BENGALURU: Two days after a 14-year-old girl was mowed down by a BBMP garbage truck on Ballari Road, her woebegone parents on Wednesday staged a flash dharna at the accident spot, triggering a massive traffic jam on the stretch leading to the airport. She had tried crossing the road as the pedestrian subway nearby was waterlogged.
Akshaya, daughter of BMTC driver Narasimhamurthy and homemaker Geetha, was returning home with her sister when the accident happened.
Around 10.30am, the bereaved parents and family members arrived at the foot of Hebbal flyover on the city side. Hebbal MLA Byrathi Suresh rushed to the spot to pacify the demonstrators. With the protesters insisting that action be taken against BBMP officials responsible for not maintaining the subway and the truck driver, Suresh tried reaching out to Palike officials and consoling the parents.
As no BBMP official turned up, the demonstrators entered the highway and blocked the traffic. The protest went on for nearly 10 minutes. Thousands of vehicles moving towards the city were held up on the flyover and beyond. Police dispersed the protesters.
BBMP officials, meanwhile, met the family on Wednesday and offered them a cheque of Rs 5 lakh as compensation. The family returned it.
“An assistant executive engineer in charge of the pedestrian subway has been removed. Our officials visited the family and offered Rs 5 lakh compensation on humanitarian grounds. No amount of money can be compensation in such a situation. This is an unfortunate incident,” BBMP chief commissioner Gaurav Gupta said.
