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Doc goes to buy shirt, BBMP ‘sends’ him into drain!
Y. Maheswara Reddy| NT
A doctor who set out to buy a shirt, is now left nursing serious injuries after he fell into a drain while coming out of a showroom on 100 Feet Road in Indiranagar!
It happened a few days ago and Dr Santosh blames the BBMP engineers for his woes. “The BBMP is doing work on the drains and pavement. I paused and looked to my left and right as the last step appeared lower than the others and as soon as I got down, the slab tilted and I fell in the gutter,’’ said the septuagenarian doctor who suffered injuries to his head, shoulder and palm.
The BBMP engineer was not available for comment.
Residents of Indiranagar are unsure of returning home without sustaining grievous injuries after visiting nearby shops due to shoddy infrastructure.
Locals have been irate at Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanag ara Palike (BBMP) engineers following an accident in which a senior citizen fell into a drain after an unstable slab that made up a sidewalk tipped him over.
Dr Santosh, who is in his 70s was injured while coming out of a well-known clothes showroom in the locality a few days ago. “I went to the Louis Philippe retail store on 100 Feet Road Indiranagar to buy a shirt. As I was getting out of the store, this is what happened. The BBMP was doing work on the drains and pavement. As can be seen in the CCTV video I paused and looked to my left and right as the last step appeared lower than the others and as soon as I stepped on it, the slab tilted and I fell in the gutter,’’ he said.
The injured doctor said that he was fortunate to have a driver who took him to the nearby hospital with the help of some people. “I have to thank the doctors and nurses at Axon Hospital for treating me well. I suffered injuries to my head, shoulder and palm. Now, I am not able to sleep at night. I have to be seated on a sofa all the time. I blame the BBMP for my health problems,’’ he added.
Blaming the BBMP authorities for the unfortunate incident, Indira Vishwanath, a local, emphasised the need to keep footpaths in a good condition. “We are not against developing footpaths here. The contractor or workers engaged in drain works should have covered the drain with wooden planks or slabs. Due to the negligence of the BBMP authorities, we are not able to visit the nearby shops as there is no guarantee for our safety,’’ Vishwanath said, adding that the BBMP engineer had made arrangements to cover the drain after the doctor got injured.
Sneha Nandihal, founder of the organisation ‘I Change Indiranagar’ said that white topping work undertaken on 100 feet road needs to be completed in phases and in time without any inconvenience to the pedestrians or motorists. “This incident was an absolute negligence on the part of the contractor and he needs to be penalised for the same. We residents demand a timeline by which this work will be completed,’’ Sneha said.
