On man's death in storm water drain, Bengaluru civic body says 'no negligence' in internal report

Bengaluru's civic body, the BBMP, said there was no negligence on its part in the death of the 31-year-old man who fell into a Storm Water Drain (SWD).

Bengaluru's civic and administrative agency, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), in an internal report said it found no fault or negligence from its side in the death of a 31-year-old man, who fell into an open Storm Water Drain (SWD) on Sunday. He crossed barricades that were placed to caution the public and bar them from venturing into the area, the report said.

In an internal report, the BBMP said the man crossed barricades that were placed to caution the public and bar them from venturing into the area.

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The storm water drain that the man fell into was in a “state of disrepair”, and development work was going on, the BBMP said. There were residential buildings on both sides of the SWD, where repair work was finished, however, work was in progress near the junction in the vicinity where officials had placed barricades and sacks of sand barring entry to the public.

The report further said onlookers informed the agency that the deceased, Lokesh R, crossed the barricades and ventured into the warded off area to check the depth of the rain water with “no regard” despite locals cautioning him.

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“Therefore the incident was accidental in nature. The public was notified of the ongoing work and no negligence was found on the part of the BBMP,” the report said.

Bengaluru saw another rain-related death on Sunday, with a 23-year-old techie drowning in an inundated underpass near KR Circle. The city has seen frequent flooding in the monsoon season last year.