Traffic constable saves pedestrian from JC Road drain in Bengaluru after Times of India alert | Bengaluru News
Bengaluru: On a partly cloudy Sunday afternoon, one of Bengaluru’s busiest roads turned briefly into a rescue zone — all because an open drain pit had been left dangerously uncovered.It began when this TOI photojournalist, present on JC Road to document the ongoing civic works, noticed a man lying motionless in one of the uncovered drain holes. Alarmed, he rushed to alert traffic police constable Sridhar MV, who was stationed a short distance away managing traffic.The constable hurried to the spot and peered in. At first glance, the man appeared unresponsive — his body partly wedged in the rubble-strewn pit, showing no signs of movement. As Sridhar weighed the possibility of alerting his law-and-order counterparts to initiate a response, the man’s lips moved. Without hesitation, the constable pulled the injured pedestrian to safety.The pedestrian, whose identity is yet to be ascertained, is said to have fallen into the open pit near an excavation site that had been left unguarded. Though he sustained only minor injuries, the incident could easily have turned disastrous — underscoring yet again the hazardous conditions pedestrians face daily on JC Road.TOI witnessed the rescue as it unfolded, capturing the moment Sridhar emerged from the pit with the man in tow. “As you saw, at first, I had to check if he was alive. When I saw his lips moving, I decided to rescue him and immediately called Hoysala 112 and explained the situation and sent a mobile photo. In the meantime, I tried to bring him back to a conscious state, and once I managed that, I pulled him out of the drain. Hoysala reached soon after and our officers have clicked spot pictures,” Sridhar said. After the rescue, the man’s speech was unclear. He requested to leave, and left from the spot, without sharing details of his identity.Broken kerbs & stonesLocals lamented that this could happen to anyone as there are barely any safe walkways left in the area. They pointed to broken kerbs, loose stones and debris that force people to walk along the very edge of deep pits.JC Road, a vital artery linking south Bengaluru to the central business district, has been suffering from neglect for a while. Drainage upgrade and white-topping works have been under way for several months, but with little attention to pedestrian safety, as TOI had reported earlier.The irony is hard to miss — a project intended to modernise road infrastructure is putting people at risk because of poor execution. Drainage covers are missing, footpaths are disassembled, and there is a distinct absence of barricading or signage.A BWSSB engineer told TOI that the water board’s works have been completed on one side of the road. “We had permission to shift utilities and did all our work on one side of the road. Currently, BBMP has taken up work and is installing huge pipelines to collect rainwater. We have nothing to do on the road currently. We’ll touch the other side of the road only once BBMP gives us permission.”BBMP, however, didn’t respond to calls for comment. (Inputs from Hamsaveni N)
