Taken from Bangalore Mirror:
The five-foot deep ditch in front of EnAble India on Sarjapur Road, Koramangala I block, into which Timy Sebastian fell headlong and broke his arm. A 31-year-old blind youth was lucky to survive with a broken arm after falling headlong into a 5-foot deep ditch; now he has taken on BBMP's callousness
with an FIR. Even for a person with 20/20 vision, it is quite a feat to safely cross the three-foot wide, uncovered shoulder drain just outside the commercial building that houses EnAble India, a charitable trust for persons with disability, located on Sarjapura Road in Koramangala I block near Wipro Junction. Imagine then, the plight of a blind person who uses a white cane to move around.
Misfortune struck Timy Sebastian, a 31-year-old blind postgraduate from Kerala, who had come to the city to attend a computer training programme at EnAble, when he fell inside the five-foot deep drain and suffered a fractured humerus on the right arm and underwent a surgery.
While EnAble is housed in the second floor, the building is also occupied by a medical transcription company, Lake System, in the first floor. Concerned over the difficulties being faced by the visually impaired people coming to EnAble India, staff at the medical transcription company had made repeated
requests to cover the shoulder drain which was kept open for almost two months for desilting work. Had the BBMP not turned a blind eye to the dangers ofthe uncovered drain, Timy wouldn't have faced such a near disastrous mishap. And in a pointer to its callousness, the spot where the mishap occurred is still lying partially uncovered, even though Timy's visually impaired friends are still frequenting the EnAble trust.
MISHAP MOCKS AT HC RULING
Timy, a native of Kottayam in Kerala, had come to Koramangala to attend the training programme two months ago. He was put up at a paying guest accommodation in the vicinity, which was almost one kilometre away. Though completely blind, he is independent and uses a white cane for mobility.
He is also comfortable using public transport as well as other facilities. On July 25, around 12.30 pm, Timy had finished his class at the institute and was stepping out to have lunch. Descending from the steps and stretching his cane out to find his way on the road, Timy noticed his cane wasn't coming
in contact with solid ground. But alas, it was too late to prevent that fall, said Timy's family members speaking to BM from Kerala.
He fell headlong into the almost five-foot deep drain and broke his right arm. Hearing his shouts for help, the owner of a departmental store on the ground floor of the same building came running out and rescued Timy. He was rushed to a nearby private hospital where he underwent surgery and was hospitalized for almost five days. Since he has been advised bed rest for almost two months, Timy was brought back home to Kerala. The victim has also filed an FIR against the concerned BBMP officials with the Koramangala police, the family members added.
The mishap occurred just two days after the High Court of Karnataka ruled that pavements are the exclusive domain of walkers. The court, on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by city activists Jennifer Pinto and Priya Pinto, had directed the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to remove all encroachments on footpaths within the next three months. Specifically, the court empowered the civic agency to clear obstructions to make the city pedestrian-friendly. But looks like instead of clearing obstructions, BBMP seems to be putting them up, as seen in the unfortunate incident involving Timy.
When contacted, Jennifer told BM, "Timy Sebastian's case indeed vindicates our stand. In fact the Association for the Visually Challenged had impleaded in our PIL. I appreciate Sebastian's decision to file a police complaint as people normally forget and move on. I think sooner than later the court must make BBMP responsible for such mishap and improper footpaths across Bangalore."
In another five days, Timy would have completed the training. "He has already found a job in a software firm for which the training was mandatory. He would have been placed in any of the firms either in Kerala or Bangalore from August. But now, we do not know what will happen. After Timy recovers, he will be sent back to complete the training. We are hoping that at least by then, the open shoulder drain will be covered," his family members rued.
"His medical expenses have totaled nearly Rs 1 lakh, which we have had to bear. We hope this amount will be reimbursed to us since Timy was an innocent victim," they added.
Sunil, the owner of the departmental store who had rescued Timy, said that work was going on for the last two months. "There is only one stone slab to step on between the road and the pavement. Timy's fall was very scary. Immediately after the incident, the concerned authorities have partially covered
the open drain. Had they done this immediately after completing their work, Timy would have been fine," Sunil said.
Moses, manager, EnAble India, said while there were skids involving other visually impaired friends of Timy near the drain, none had experienced a fall like him.
Shino, Timy's cousin who works in Whitefield, and who was with the latter in the hospital, told BM, "Timy is deeply upset as he is unable to attend the training which has affected his employment chances."
The Koramangala police said they are yet to take up the matter for investigations as they were busy in the bandobast duties for the bandh.
When contacted, ward No. 151 ( Koramangala) corporator B N Kokila said silt removal from the drain and tiling of the footpath was taken up around a month ago, and it has made slow progress. The work is being financed using the MLA's fund belonging to minister Ramalinga Reddy. I am not aware of the incident, but I will ask the ward engineer to speed up the work."
Ward assistant engineer Shivalingappa said, "I am not aware of the mishap. I had told contractors to take all precautionary measures. I will personally look into the matter."
FOOTPATH TRAP, A PREQUEL
Bangalore Mirror had recently reported (Pavements are not for transformers: HC, June 5, 2014) about the family of a deceased pedestrian moving the High Court against Bescom. The family had blamed the power company and BBMP for the death of Manoj Patil on May 18, 2013, due to electrical shock from the protective steel fence around a transformer installed on the footpath near Church Street. Looks like nothing much has changed for BBMP. Otherwise, Timy Sebastian wouldn't have had to lodge an FIR against its officials.
Source: Bangalore Mirror.
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