Hyderabad: Manholes or open graves? No more Mounikas please

HYDERABAD: The recent death of a nine-year-old girl, who got washed away in an open stormwater drain in Kalasiguda, shocked everyone, but did not leave anyone surprised. Open manholes on the streets in city have turned death-traps whenever it rains.
Mounika, the class 4 student, became the latest victim of negligence by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation officials.Since 2020, six people have died after falling into open manholes, while several commuters sustained injuries. Prior to Mounika's death on April 29, 48-year-old Albert had drowned after slipping into an unfenced Strategic Nala Development Programme's (SNDP) project in Mirjalguda on January 24 this year.

In all the instances, the GHMC had failed to adhere to safety rules and did not erect any barricades or signages warning citizens.
The issue has been raised within the municipal administration and urban development department (MAUD) several times. A year ago, MAUD special chief secretary Arvind Kumar expressed his displeasure over the non-completion of safety audit of manholes and openings of drains in his memo issued to HMWSSB and GHMC.
"It is noticed that a 100% safety audit is not yet completed and such vulnerable points are still visible at a few points, which are still left unattended. This is not acceptable," the memo by Kumar on May 25, 2022 read.
Little has changed since then. The safety audit is still incomplete even as the water board and GHMC continue to receive hundreds of complaints regarding open drains, broken manhole covers and dug-up pits without barricading.
"Civic apathy is clearly visible even while executing their much-touted SNDP works," Raj Kumar Singh, a civic activist, told TOI. "It took the death of a child for the administration to act and suspend the two officials. Prior to that, the professional negligence on the part of contractors or supervising officials was never punished at several work sites."
GHMC officials, while admitting to lapses on their side, note that in several instances, barricades or signages erected at work sites are removed by local residents.
"In the Kalasiguda incident, the drain was opened by a few locals so that the rainwater gets drained quickly. This only widened the hole resulting in the incident. We are coordinating with the water board and contractors to ensure safety measures are strictly followed," a senior official of GHMC's engineering wing told TOI.