Drains or death traps?
At least four people lost their lives in a similar fashion over the last four months and the number of deaths is six in the last six years
The uncovered drains in Chattogram city are posing grave threats to city residents as it becomes difficult for them to identify those roadside drains when roads get waterlogged just after a light rain.
The incidents of pedestrians falling into such drains are happening every now and then, but the authorities have apparently remained indifferent to the issue.
The latest death of a university student named Seherin Mahbub Sadia, 19, after being swept away in an open drain, testifies to the utter neglect on the part of the authorities concerned in ensuring proper drainage for residents.
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At least four people lost their lives in a similar fashion over the last four months and the number of deaths is six in the last six years.
In another incident, on 25 August, a 50-year-old man named Saleh Ahmed went missing after falling into a roadside drain in the city's Muradpur area. The man is still missing.
Likewise, on June 30, two individuals, a CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver along with a passenger, died after falling into a storm water drain in the port city's Sholoshohor area.
But neither the Chattogram City Corporation nor the Chattogram Port Authority (CDA) is ready to take responsibility for such deaths.
City planners blamed no action against those responsible for the recurrence of such accidents.
Incidents of people falling into drains happen almost all the time and it is very worrying, said City planner Engineer Subhash Chandra Barua.
Safety must be ensured first before taking up any development project, he also said.
The city planner thinks that those responsible for these incidents should be brought to book.
Most canals remained uncovered as the CDA has been expanding those under a Tk5,000 crore project taken up to mitigate water logging in the port city.
The incidents of pedestrians being washed away by the water in drains usually happen during the monsoon when roads go under water after rain.
According to Chattogram city corporation, there is around 946-kilometre stretch of drains in the city, but it has no information on how many of those are covered with slabs. Besides, the length of 57 canals is 161km, but there are no safety barriers along risky areas of those canals.
During a visit to the port city's Agrabad area yesterday, all drains were found without covers. Most drains do not have any slabs, while canals are not barricaded by safety walls, leading to frequent incidents of drowning in storm water drains.
Chattogram City Corporation Mayor Md Rezaul Karim Chowdhury said they have a plan to lay slabs on the city's drains, which will greatly reduce the risk of accidents.
Lieutenant Colonel Shah Ali, director of the project to mitigate waterlogging in Chattogram, said work is now underway to put up barricades along canals and drains. Once the work is completed, railings will be erected on roads adjacent to canals to avoid accidents. Slabs are being placed over drains too.
