Tension prevailed for some time on Tuesday at Someshwara Nagar, where an under-construction building had caved in, when neighbours and workers staged a protest with the body of Nagamma demanding suitable compensation.
Soon after the body of Nagamma was handed over to the police for post-mortem, the protesters blocked the police vehicle and started shouting slogans.
Officials of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) along with the senior police officials swung into action and pacified the crowd by offering a compensation of Rs. 1 lakh to the family of the victim and assured a job to the eldest son of Nagamma on compassionate grounds.
BBMP assurance
Earlier in the day, the BBMP officials issued a written assurance to the residents in and around the building promising them to repair their houses in case of any damage during the demolition of the building.
The BBMP has entrusted the work to private agency to demolish the building, which had developed huge cracks and tilted onto the adjacent residential apartment buildings.
Barely, had the BBMP personnel begun the demolition work, the residents protested stating that their houses would be damaged. They blamed the BBMP officials for the mess.
“We had filed several petitions and even complained to the BBMP engineers and the councillor, but the owner continued to build a multi-storeyed apartment in violation of the rules. The entire building has come up in 10 months,” Venkata Chalapathy, one of the resident told The Hindu .
Most of the neighbours have now vacated their houses to facilitate the demolition.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) H.S. Revanna said that the jurisdictional Siddapura police had taken up a suo motu case against Mohamed Saleem and others under (304(a)) death due to negligence.
