Bangalore University campus was the site of yet another road accident on Monday, November 21. This is the ninth road accident since the death of a postgraduate student in October that ignited widespread protests from the students.
The accident yesterday occurred when a cab crashed into another car near the Biotechnology Department. Students blame the lack of speed breakers for the accident, which left two people injured. Sources have also told EdexLive that a formal complaint has been lodged with the Kamakshi Palya Police Station.
"The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) removed 28 speed breakers on campus in June this year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited BU to inaugurate a new campus of the Dr BR Ambedkar School of Economics (BASE). These were not reinstalled despite repeated requests to the civic body and the university administration," claimed Lokesh Ram Vice-President of the BU Postgraduate and Research Scholars' Union.
In October, two students met with accidents on the BU campus, leading to students launching protests demanding a prohibition on the movement of outside vehicles on campus. Shilpa Shree, a first-year MSc student who was run over by a BMTC bus, succumbed to her injuries. Ramanjinappa G, a research scholar at Bangalore University, who had met with an accident on the same stretch of road due to an unmarked speedbump, was also critically injured.
"These accidents are a result of negligence by the BBMP in reinstalling the speed bumps removed during PM Modi's visit. We have also requested the government to initiate the process to ban the movement of outside vehicles on campus through the university administration, but no meeting has been called in this regard," Lokesh adds.
The students also claim that the government has not yet provided any compensation to Shilpa Shree's family. This, coupled with the government's lax attitude towards reinstalling the speed bumps has pushed the students to plan a "fundraising" event for the government. "We are planning a campaign on November 23 or 24 in order to raise funds for the state government to install speed bumps and provide compensation to Shilpa Shree's family. We will collect Rs 1 coins from the students to condemn the inaction from the government," Lokesh explains.