It was to have been a happy vacation time at her great-grandfather’s place but little Akshita’s life was snuffed out in a freak accident at Manjunathnagar in Rajajinagar here Thursday morning.
The five-year-old’s throat was fatally pierced by a flint chiselled off from a boulder by workers hired by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike to work on a drain.
Too late
Sharada N., a neighbour, said: “Blood gushed out of her throat after the piece struck. We immediately rushed her to hospital, but she died on the way.”
The only daughter of Anant Gowda, a farmer, and Pavithra, lives in Sravanabelagola, but had come to Bangalore just four days ago to spend her vacation with her maternal great-grandparents Thimme Gowda and Yashoda.
While the drain reconstruction had been undertaken by the BBMP, its representatives said work had been contracted to the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Ltd. (KRIDL) and its workers were employed as well.
No precautions
Azan P., neighbour, said that the workers had warned the child not to play in front of the house.
“Elections are ahead and hence the work is being hurried. The road is very narrow and every day the work continues without any safety measures. But who thought that such a small piece of flint would bring about such a tragedy!”
Urban Development Minister S. Suresh Kumar, describing the death as unfortunate, condemned its politicisation. He saidorders for the work had already been issued much before the announcement of the election dates.”
Basaveshwaranagar police registered a case of negligence against the contractor and the local BBMP engineer.
