Hyderabad: A large number of open or uncovered manholes and damaged slabs on roadside drains have become death traps for pedestrians and motorists. Though the city witnessed a couple of incidents in recent days, most manholes and drains along the city roads are lying uncovered, thereby endangering lives. Several roads have become more dangerous in rains as they get inundated.

The manholes, which are supposed to be access points for sewers and stormwater drains, seem to be posing a serious threat to road users across GHMC limits. Despite several cases being reported, the civic officials have ignored the issue.

According to residents, it has been observed that several manholes in various localities in the city are either broken, under repair or uncovered. However, this week, during heavy rains, 4 persons died and another 4 persons went missing, but the officials of GHMC, Water Board and HYDRAA took no action related to manholes.

Many incidents have taken place in which pedestrians or commuters have suffered injuries because of the open manholes. Whenever it rains, locals insert long sticks or branches of trees in open manholes to warn of danger. On September 11, a five-year-old girl fell into an uncovered manhole in Rein Bazar in Old City. The incident initiated a blame game between GHMC, HYDRAA and Water Board. Later HYDRAA takes responsibility.

On Thursday, the officials recovered a bike from a manhole in Vinobha Nagar in Musheerabad when they initiated a search operation of 26-year-old Dinesh Sunny who was swept away in gushing water in nala in Musheerabad.

Various cases are witnessed in the localities in Greater Hyderabad but are not reported.

“There is one open manhole right in the middle of the road in our area. There have been several incidents where two-wheelers and cars get stuck in it. People have also suffered some serious injuries because of this problem,” said Muqaffam, a resident of Hussainialam.

A resident at Lal Darwaza said, “The situation gets worse during rains because the entire street gets flooded and you can hardly notice the uncovered manhole,” said Srikanth.

Mohammed Ahmed, an activist said, “Open/uncovered or under repair manholes are taking lives. During rains, in a week 4 deaths were reported from falling in open drains in the city. This happens every year, but the civic officials adopt the same careless attitude, with the staff leaving drains, manholes and nalas uncovered, which become death traps for people.”

Ahmed said, “Both HYDRAA and GHMC officials are focusing only on encroachment related issues. In a recent incident, a 5-year-old girl fell in a manhole in Old City, which has proved the lack of coordination between officials. The government must take a serious note on public-related civic issues and take up the civic works.”

A cyclist was injured after falling in an open manhole in Qaziura, said Venkatesh, who posted a photo requesting GHMC to resolve the issue. Similarly, several such incidents related to manholes have surged on social media.

These open/uncovered, under repair manholes can be witnessed in various localities – Nampally, Mallepally, inner colonies of Mehdipatnam, Tolichowki, King Koti, Ameerpet, Banjara Hill, Yousufguda, Borabanda, Balanagar, Amberpet, Malakpet, LB Nagar and other areas. Meanwhile, the horrific conditions of manholes are witnessed in Old City areas – Talabkatta, Qazipura, Kalapather, Lal Darwaza, Gowlipura, Chatrinaka, Falaknuma, Bahadurpura, among others.