E-Paper
Manholes or deathtraps?
OPEN MANHOLES are virtual deathtraps. And the city has 4,000 of them. They have become a threat for commuters, especially small children. General manager of Jal Sansthan Ratan Lal said, ?Around 4,000 manholes out of the 45,000 in the city are without their lids. In most cases, these are stolen. To check such acts, we have decided to educate people.?
OPEN MANHOLES are virtual deathtraps. And the city has 4,000 of them. They have become a threat for commuters, especially small children.
General manager of Jal Sansthan Ratan Lal said, “Around 4,000 manholes out of the 45,000 in the city are without their lids. In most cases, these are stolen. To check such acts, we have decided to educate people.”
Rattled at the rampant theft, the department has decided to publish an advertisement in the papers to stop anyone carrying on repairing work without the identity card of Jal Sansthan. This will help the locals in nailing the real culprits and ensuring safety.
The officials have already started replacing cast iron covers with the cement ones, which have no cash value, to counter the threat.
Lal said, “The Jal Sansthan has lodged hundreds of FIRs in various police stations of the city. Hardly any theft case has been cracked by the police. It is a petty crime according to them but it takes a heavy toll on the exchequer of the department, which has to suffer a loss between Rs 5 and 10 lakh per annum.”
The thieves mostly target manhole covers in posh colonies as they find it easy to carry out the job there.
Not only Jal Sansthan but also KDA as well as some mobile companies have placed their manholes in the city.
Ramendra Jain, an executive with a private company, said that his car was stuck in the manhole at GT road a week ago. “As I could not locate the manhole due to waterlogging, I had to spend Rs 3,800 to get my car out and get it repaired,” he said.
Worse, thieves have started stealing GI pipes from the India Mark II hand pumps, of late. “They come in the uniform of sansthan workers and perform their job with perfection,” said Lal. Sources said the thieves have stolen pipes worth lakhs of rupees in the last six months from the hand pumps.
