Death Trap! Open Manholes Pose Threat to Lives

Death Trap! Open Manholes Pose Threat to Lives

Death Traps! Manholes during construction are left open which pose threat to lives, near Mount Carmel Central School-Mary Hill vicinity

Mangaluru: Just as the “Children’s Safety Awareness” programme on transportation of school children got over at Mount Carmel Central School, while getting out of the school parking lot I noticed a few open manholes that were being newly constructed left wide open, without any barricades or safety signs -these manholes were posing threat to lives, both adults and children. With an MCCS children play area very close to these manholes, chances are that someone may fall into one of these manholes while running or walking around that area. How careless could MCC and the contractor who are at the helm of the construction of manholes, to leave them open? Are they waiting for an accident or a death to take place due to these neglected open manholes?

If you look around the city, there are several open manholes posing a serious threat to the lives of the people. Be it the posh localities or suburban areas, open manholes can be seen everywhere. Despite several incidents in the past where people have fallen in these manholes and suffered injuries, Mangaluru City Corporation has never paid heed to cover them up, while they are being constructed. Pedestrians and motorists have been seriously injured due to such mishaps. But the municipal authorities have learnt no lesson from these incidents, as a result, these dangerous death traps are lying open.

These open manholes were not even barricaded or demarcated by the authorities concerned. The locals instead had placed tree sticks/branches to alert commuters. This is not enough to alert people walking by them.These pits can lead to accidents during daytime itself but they become all the more dangerous during the night time. “One has to remain alert while driving or walking during night hours otherwise an accident is guaranteed due to an open manhole. A two wheeler can get stuck up in a large uncovered manhole if its rider is unable to see it. Even the wheel of a car can get stuck up in the pit. Therefore, municipal authorities should ensure that such manholes are covered”, said a resident of Mary Hill area, who does his morning and evening walk on this road stretch, in between Mary Hill convent and MCCS.

Sr Melissa AC, principal of Mount Carmel Central school said, ” I have informed the MCC corporator of this ward, Kavitha Sanil to take action soon in covering the manholes so that no one falls into them before it’s too late. It’s been a few days now, but still, no action has been taken by the MCC authorities even after our complaints. Also, yet another issue posing inconvenience and hardships for children and others is the clogging/stranding water at the entrance of this road. When it rains heavily water gets flooded in this area up to knee level. I hope MCC rectifies both these civic issues at the earliest”. Suresh Kumar, a local of that area expressed anger over the ill-prepared MCC He said, “During rainy season water-logging takes place on roads and then it is more difficult to see an open manhole or dug-up road or a pit. The chances of the accident causing life threat runs high. Thus, MCC should ensure that the open manholes should be covered well and not left unattended”.

Few parents who bring their children to the school said that only the locals of the area remain concerned about some kind of barricading, like tree limbs/branches to indicate that an open manhole exists here, but none of the municipal officials ever takes the pain to cover the manhole, said the locals further. This is done to ensure that the school going children do not fall prey to these manholes.These manholes are hardly visible, complained, one parent. “I am seeing these holes for a the past few days. If they fill with water during rainfall, it could lead to mishaps. I hope my message will reach the concerned MCC authorities through this website so that they take action at the soonest”

“Even this stretch of the road is badly lit. Since streetlights are mostly defunct, open manholes pose a major risk to commuters at night. As this road is dilapidated and potholed, bikes and cars are at risk of getting stuck in a manhole. Due to poor street lighting, other day my wife fell and her hand got fractured. Thankfully she didn’t fall into a manhole,” complained yet another resident of a flat nearby. So what is MCC waiting for? Someone to fall into one of these manholes and get injured and lose a life, and then only take action in covering these manholes. No doubt, as always when it comes to the safety of the citizens, MCC gives a damn about it. Complain..complain..raise your voices, till this safety hazard, is fixed.