Three persons were killed and four injured when the boundary wall of Iskcon’s proposed Krishna Lila Park project off Kanakapura Road collapsed on a few houses on the adjoining Vasanthapura slum on Monday afternoon.
Chinnagiriappa, Thopalaiah and his five-year old granddaughter Shriya were crushed to death as the wall collapsed on their houses in the slum. Thopalaiah and his family, from Mandya, were in the city to celebrate the Ganesha festival with their relatives.
Venkatesh, Varaprasad, Lakshmikanth and Swamy Velu were admitted to BGS Global Hospital and Victoria Hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the accident. According to police, eight houses were damaged due to the collapse.
Iskcon management issued a press release, stating that the boundary wall collapsed due to heavy rains over the last few weeks. The release stated that the wall was constructed ten years ago, following all necessary procedures.
Though it is yet to be ascertained whether it was a case of sheer negligence or lack of supervision on the part of Iskcon, residents of the slum said Iskcon management had the site of the project levelled by dumping truckloads of debris and soil in the area.
Apparently, when the land was vacant earlier, when it rained, water used to gush out through the compound wall into the slum.
“We have complained to the Iskcon management many times, but in vain. The leveling continued over the last two months,’’ said Ravi KN, one of the residents of the slum.
With the survivors and relatives of the dead and injured wailing, and collapsed houses looking like mounds of debris, the slum resembled an earthquake site. Politicians, ministers and elected representatives were quick to visit the area and assure the survivors of necessary help. Minister for transport Ramalinga Reddy visited the affected area on Tuesday morning.
”An MLA and I rushed to the spot as soon as we received the information. We were there till the bodies were retrieved from debris,’’ said Vijaya Ramesh, corporator from Vasanthpura ward.
The Isckon management has agreed to build houses for those who lost them, and announced that it would pay a compensation of Rs5 lakh each to the families of Chinnagiriappa and Thopalaiah, with an additional Rs3 lakh compensation to Thopalaiah’s family, for the death of Shriya. A compensation of Rs50,000 is being paid to those who sustained injuries.
The proposed Krishna Lila Park, described as a “hi-tech amusement park”, is designed to have a 360-ft tall main complex building, with a viewing gallery at 500-ft level. The project, expected to cost Rs350 crore, and to be constructed on 28 acres “will be the first theme park in India with the quality of world class theme parks like Disney World and Universal Studios,” says a website.
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