“I spoke to Lakshmi last evening. She told me she would return with her grandfather on Tuesday morning. After the vacations, her school was supposed to re-open on Wednesday,” said a grieving Kasthuri Shankar, mother of Geethalakshmi.
It was a rude shock for the family members of Geethalakshmi who were eagerly anticipating their little daughter’s arrival after 10 days. On Monday night, Geetha was returning home with her aunt Lakshmi to their home in Doresanipalya near Puttenahalli after Lakshmi, a maid, finished cooking dinner at her employer’s house in Bannerghatta Road. While walking back home, Geetha slipped into the drain.
Though rescue operations were immediately carried out, the rescue teams could not trace the body of Geetha. While BBMP officials, with the help of Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services were pressed into service on Monday night, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Karnataka Civil Defence personnel joined hands on Tuesday morning.
Nearly 150 personnel, divided into four teams, carried out the operations. According to BBMP officials, the rescue operations were carried out till 3 am on Tuesday and resumed at 8.30 am. An official said, “The search operations simultaneously started from Bannerghatta Road and Madiwala lake in the morning. The drain in which Geetha fell is about 1 meter wide and 1.5 deep. After a length of 15 feet, it connects with a rajakaluve on Bannerghatta Road and flows towards Madiwala Lake. By afternoon, the officials had covered a distance of half-a-kilometer, but Geetha was nowhere to be found.”
He added that about 3.5 feet of water was accumulated in the drain in which Geetha had fallen due to the heavy rains on Monday evening. However, the six personnel who had stepped inside the drain at both the ends, were called back due to security reasons. “It took a lot of time to cover the stretch and the officials were exposed to toxic gases for a long time. Hence, we decided to call them back and re-make the plan,” explained chief defence warden P.R.S. Chetan. The operations resumed by 12.30 pm, with 25 NDRF personnel ready to get inside the drain.
At every 200 meters we cut open the road so that there is ventilation for gases to pass out and in case the officials are tired, it is easy to pull them out. About 20 openings will be made from Villa Colony Road to Madiwala Lake, which is a distance of 1.2 km. Two officials will simultaneously get inside the drain in Villa Colony Road and Madiwala Lake, and meet at a common point inside the drain,” he said.
According to Mr Chetan, though there were no major challenges in carrying out the search operations, the pipes, walls and silt posed problems. “The drains are clogged due to silt and they get narrow as we go further. It is unknown terrain and the depth is not common. It gets steeper in some places. Since it is a closed circuit, the officials have to be careful,” he added.
