'Do no put safety grille in balcony'
The Hindu
BBMP terms them 'unsafe'
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Wednesday warned residents against the installation of safety grille and other “unsafe practices”, a day after a 59-year-old woman and her elderly mother were trapped and killed in a fire that broke out inside their flat.
Visuals of one of the victims, Bhagyarekha, 59, in the barricaded balcony screaming for help as people watched helplessly from below sent shockwaves across the city. Sealed safety grille installed in the balcony of the apartment at Devarachikkanahalli impeded rescue efforts.
“Going forward, these kinds of unsafe practices leading to danger in the construction of the houses will not be permitted. If there is a need for modification at the residential complexes/other buildings, pre-approval must be obtained from BBMP competent authorities,” said BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta.
The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.