Compensation awarded for drowning in well maintained by Slum Clearance Board.

The Order of the Court was as follows :

The petitioner has approached this Court to issue a writ of mandamus directing the respondent-Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board to pay a just and fair amount of compensation for the death of her daughter Meena.

2. The case of the petitioner is briefly stated hereunder :

According to her she married one G. Mani and they have three sons and three daughters. Her first daughter Meena was born in November, 1976. She was working in an Export Garment Factory. On 22-7-1992 she went to her grant parents' house in Rani Anna Nagar after days work at the factory. She went to draw water from the well number 8, opposite to Block No. 16 as usual, as there was no water available in the taps in the house. Water from the well is usually drawn from the holes left on the concrete slab covers over the well. On that fateful day, the concrete slab was wet and slippery due to rain. Her daughter Meena while trying to draw water slipped and fell into the well through the draw hole and consequently she died. Her husband G. Mani made a complaint to the Sub-Inspector of Police, K. K. Nagar and F.I.R. was registered in Crime No. 2086/92 under S. 174, Cr. P.C. Her daughter was working in an Export Garment Factory and earning Rs. 450.00 per month. She was a diligent worker. It is further stated that the residents of the colony through their Welfare Association made several representations to the respondent and to his subordinates demanding them to pump water from the wells to the overhead tanks in the Colony explaining the physical hardships and mental agony undergone by the women residents of the colony. The women need not undertake the risk routine of drawing water from the unprotected draw holes, if the respondent had properly carried out their duty of providing water and ensuring the safety of wells in the colony. The pumps are almost always in a state of disrepair. Hence, the women residents are forced to draw water from the wells over the concrete slab on the wells. The respondent and his subordinates were well aware of this fact, but they did not care to provide pulleys and parapet walls to wells to ensure the safety of persons using the well. In such circumstances, having no other remedy, she filed the present writ petition claiming appropriate compensation.

3. The respondent filed a counter-affidavit disputing various averments made by the petitioner. The writ petition is not maintainable. It is stated that the pump rooms in K.K. Nagar Slum Clearance Board Colony are well maintained by the Board and a pump operator is also appointed for the operation of pump set and jet motors, thereby the water is being supplied to the people through overhead tanks to the blocks. Further more, each and every well is protected with 3 to 4 feet height of parapet walls, as safety measures. Prior warning instruction is also written on either side of the walls as preventive measure restraining the dwellers to climb on the wall to draw water. The petitioner could have avoided fateful day if her daughter had been warned in compliance of instructions. Further, the petitioner is not residing in the above area, viz., Rani Anna Nagar. The Slum Clearance Board is supplying water to the tenements through six water tankers. Each water tanker consists of 12,000 litres of water. Since there is no water during summer in the wells, the residents are unable to take water from the well. The event on fateful day was purely on account of negligence, and carelessness of the deceased. On the contrary no negligence would be attributed on the part of the Board because the wells are fully covered. Furthermore, the manholes provided in the wells are meant for cleaning and repairing suction pipes and the residents are not permitted to draw water from the wells through manholes and a clear notice of warning instruction is painted on the walls to the public restraining them to climb on the walls. With these averments they prayed for dismissal of the