Sixteen-year-old Narasamma, who worked as a construction labourer with her parent, was attending to her morning ablutions when she was swept away in a storm-water drain around 6 a.m. on Sunday at Krishnappa Garden, C.V. Raman Nagar. With no basic amenities, residents of the makeshift settlement are forced to use the drain as a toilet. Friends who were with the teenager said she slipped on a garbage pile, lost her balance and fell into the drain. As she was swept away, she hit her head on a slab and drowned before she was rescued. Her body was recovered 500 yards away from the accident site.
“I was also with her when we went to the drain. She had just finished and gotten up, when she slipped and fell into the drain. I immediately woke everybody up and tried to save her but it was too late,” said Devamma.
Relief measures have been initiated, with the government announcing a compensation of ₹5 lakh to the family of the deceased. The BBMP has been directed to install e-toilets in the locality.
The tragedy has highlighted the pathetic conditions residents in the makeshift colony are forced to live in. “There is no toilet or power supply and the sides are filled with garbage,” said a resident.
Going to the toilet is a nightmare, Devamma added. “We are always scared of insects and snakes, but we have no choice but to use the same place. All the women use the same spot, while men use a different spot a little further down.”
Narasamma worked as a daily wage labourer and was one of the two breadwinners in the family of seven. Her father quit working a few years ago after he injured his leg. Her mother, too, is a daily wage labourer.
Resident vented their ire on local representatives and the police who arrived at the spot.“Authorities only look at us when it is election time and want to ask us for votes. Otherwise, we are unwanted citizens, whom nobody pays attention to. We women, have no privacy and have to use the area near the sides of the drain as toilet,” said another resident, Raniamma.