SHRC pulls up Palike over kids being being washed down city drains

Taking note of the instances of children drowning in overflowing city drains, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Thursday held the Bruhut Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) responsible for such tragedies.

The BBMP has failed to take preventive measures to avoid such unnecessary fatality, SHRC chairman justice SR Nayak said. He was taking cognisance of the latest such incident, in which 12-year-old H Aravinda Kumar is feared washed away in the Vrushabhavathi Canal on May 13.

“On earlier occasions, the commission had directed BBMP authorities to take immediate steps and measures to prevent such tragedies. Unfortunately the BBMP has failed,” Nayak said, adding that the SHRC has issued notice to the commissioner of the BBMP, seeking a detailed report on the incident of May 13. 

The BBMP commissioner was asked to furnish details of ‘steps and measures’ taken to prevent such tragedy. The rights panel also sought details, within a month, of compensation paid to parents of the deceased boy.

Following Aravinda’s disappearance in the drain, a search was launched. The BBMP called off its search after a few days, but paid a compensation of ¤1 lakh to the boy’s parents on Wednesday.