BENGALURU: Officials of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Wednesday gave an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the family members of the woman who died after an electric pole fell on her in Wilson Garden on Monday night. Hemavathi Harsha, 37, suffered severe head injuries and died in hospital due to excessive bleeding.
The incident happened on the 8th crossroad near Jain Temple when she was feeding her daughter in front of her house. A huge tree fell on the electric pole after the locality received heavy rain in the evening. Seeing the pole coming down, Hemavathi rushed to rescue her daughter who was playing near it. By the time she reached there, the pole fell on her. Her daughter was also injured in the incident.
Officials of the BBMP Forest Cell pruned the branches of trees in the locality on Wednesday morning following complaints from the residents. According to members of the Wilson Garden Residents’ Welfare Association, 10 trees were pruned in their locality. Shivanand Kalkere, Special Commissioner, BBMP South Zone, confirmed that the Palike officials gave a compensation cheque to the family of Hemavathi. BLG Swamy, Deputy Conservator Of Forests, BBMP Forest Cell, said,
“We used cranes to help workers cut the branches of trees. The pruning work will continue on Thursday.” MZ Ali, vice-president of Wilson Garden Residents’ Welfare Association, said, “We took the Palike officials to task after Hemavathi’s death on Monday evening. We showed them the trees that posed a threat to the people on Tuesday. Accordingly, the Palike workers pruned some trees on Wednesday.