HC gives Bengaluru Metro two weeks to respond on pillar collapse accident

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday ordered issuing of notices to Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) and others in a public interest litigation taken on its own over the death of two persons due to the collapse of an under-construction metro pillar here.

The BMRCL was given two weeks’ time to respond to the court.

The state government, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the BMRCL chief engineer and Nagarjuna Construction Company Limited are the other respondents in the case.

The High Court had initiated the suo-moto (on its own) PIL on January 13 following the death of software engineer Tejaswini and her two-year-old son when the pillar pier collapsed on the two-wheeler they were travelling in, near Hennur main road in the city on January 10.

The division bench of Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice S Vishwajith Shetty heard the petition that the court had itself directed the Registrar General to initiate.

While initiating the PIL earlier this month, the High Court had said it was taking cognisance of news reports about the incident. “These news items prompted us to take cognisance of the incident referred to wherein there is an unfortunate death of a lady and toddler son at the condition of roads, the issue raises concern and question for the public at large.” Meanwhile, the BMRCL had suspended three engineers and issued notices to its contractor Nagarjuna Construction Company. The police had booked nine persons including officials of BMRCL.