Bengaluru: Five lives lost and lakhs of people affected. The heavy rain of the last week has proved costly and it is anybody’s guess what could be in store when the skies open up over Bengaluru again.
While Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrashekar has now threatened to sue the BBMP for negligence, is it time other taxpayers did the same?
Senior advocate Pramila Nesargi says leaving drains open itself amounts to criminal negligence as this often leads to accidents.
“Those affected can file a civil suit and claim the damages from the agency responsible as it is its duty to secure places in its jurisdiction to prevent casualties, ” she says.
Currently, whenever there is loss of life or property a case of negligence is duly registered under section 304A of the Indian Penal Code, but little action follows.
Ask Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Alok Kumar, and he however, assures things will be different this time. “In the case of Geethalakshmi (the nine-year-old who slipped into a flooded drain and drowned) a case has been registered against the BBMP and a case will be registered against the corporator, ward engineer or contractor concerned too if we find them guilty of negligence,” he adds.
But perhaps after the city’s recent experience it is time to adopt a strategy which could be more of a game –changer and make the authorities concerned liable for the deaths and damage that follow every spell of heavy rain.
