Uncovered manholes: Disaster in waiting

Hyderabad: As part of The Hans India and HMTV’s campaign against manholes, we present another scary scene prominently visible every day on the busy stretch of Amberpet Crossroads where nearly 10 manholes are left uncovered, posing serious threats to commuters. These precarious manholes are found mostly around the Chey No X Roads and the roads leading towards Moosarambagh and Kachiguda.

Thousands of commuters use this important arterial road that connects densely populated areas of Dilsukhnagar, Amberpet, Ramanthapur and Uppal. Over a dozen non-fatal road accidents go unreported here on a daily basis. Residents and commuters using this stretch are annoyed at the lethargic approach of civic officials as their appeals for covering these open manholes have gone in vain.

This busy road connecting Amberpet X Roads to Moosarambagh continues to pose a threat to school going children as there is a gaping manhole in the middle of a sludge-filled road. Motorists here are wary of manoeuvring this stretch as there are several potholes and a large muddy patch that resembles a huge pit.

A commuter, P Sai Kiran, who uses this road daily said, “I have been travelling from Kacheguda to Amberpet junction for quite a long time. Though I try to avoid this open manhole every day, I see several others trip over because of the dense road traffic. On Sunday, I almost drove in to the manhole because of the presence of sludge on the road. My repeated requests to the GHMC, Water Board and traffic officials are yet to yield results.”

K Rambabu, a software engineer and a resident of Tilak Nagar said, “The stretch witnesses scores of unreported accidents on a daily basis. We have brought the issue to the notice of the GHMC workers, but they asked us to lodge a complaint at the head office.” “There are three manholes lying open in our area. We have been complaining to the GHMC for about nine months now, but there is no response. It is a disaster waiting to happen, especially when it rains heavily,” rued V Rama Krishna, a resident of Bapu Nagar.

A senior GHMC official said they were clueless about the issue and assured to solve it at the earliest. “I wish the issue is taken up at all levels by even involving corporators as their interaction level with the general public is very high. We do respond to all complaints in writing. However, we will take up repairs on this manhole on a priority,” he said.

Why GHMC failed?
Failure on the part of five GHMC zonal commissioners to implement the GHMC chief’s instructions to carry out a social audit on the existing manhole covers under ‘Parichayam’ programme has been put on the backburner, resulting in loss of precious lives. Janardhan Reddy, in December last year, has asked zonal commissioners to obtain signatures from residents after restoring potholes, replacing manhole covers and other maintenance in their respective zones.

By Maddy Deekshith