A university student had a close shave about three weeks ago when he almost fell into an open manhole opposite the truck stand at Dholaikhal in Old Town of Dhaka.
鈥楾he authorities have done the drain work but left the manhole covered with a board,鈥� said Minhaz. 鈥業t was night. I didn鈥檛 realise that the board was not secure. I stepped on it and almost fell into it. I luckily escaped.鈥�
Anyone like Minhaz could meet with an accident, even fatally, as manholes on many road and footpath stretches remain dangerously open.
Both the city authorities of Dhaka say that the number of open manholes has increased in four to five months as covers are stolen mostly by drug addicts.
Many say that manholes remain uncovered for months in some areas. They put up tree branches or other objects to mark the open manholes to head off any accidents.
Md Shahjahan Mia, administrator of the south city authorities, said on August 28 that city authorities frequently receive complaints about open manholes.
鈥楶eople mostly doing the drugs or in need of money steal the iron covers and sell them for profit,鈥� he has said.
The chief engineer of the north city authorities, Md Moin Uddin, has said that they spend between Tk 15,000 and Tk 20,000 on a manhole cover and its installation. They have spent all their budget for manhole covers in the first half of the year.
An employee of the south city authorities has said the corporation has received more than 200 reports on missing covers in three to four months. Manholes on the road near Gate 2 of the secretariat and the Central Shahid Minar have recently been covered. But both of them were stolen the next day.
Video footage of a road stretch in Zone 2 of the south city authorities, sent to an employee, shows several people reaching the place in a pickup at night and stealing the covers, the employee said.
Urban planners have, however, blamed the authorities for failing to ensure the minimum safety of the public.
鈥榃e know that covers are stolen. This is no excuse. A woman in Gazipur recently fell into an open drain and died,鈥� said Adil Mohammed Khan, a professor of urban and regional planning in Jahangirnagar University.
鈥楾he authorities should at least take early measures to mark the open manholes for people to remain wary,鈥� he said.
He has said that city cleaners work every day. If they are asked to report missing manhole covers, the authorities can act immediately.
Manholes were found missing on busy roads and the footpath during recent visits to areas such as Karwan Bazar, Sonargaon Road, Narinda, Satish Sarkar Road at Gendaria, Shimultala Road at Pirerbagh of Mirpur and near the vehicle stand at Basabo.
Md Saizul, who sells shoes under the metro rail station at Karwan Bazar, opposite the Sonargaon Hotel, said on August 29 that covers of two manholes on the footpath had been missing for 9鈥�10 days. Another cover of a manhole near the station gate disappeared two days ago.
鈥楶eople can easily fall into the manhole and become injured as it is right in front of the gate. I even saw a few people stumble,鈥� he said.
Both the city authorities have said that they consider replacing iron manhole covers with ones made of fibre-reinforced plastic to stop them from being sold for profit.
The chief engineer of the north city authorities has, however, said that they installed locally made plastic manhole covers in some areas, but they cannot withstand the pressure of vehicles.
鈥榃e have brought samples of fibre-reinforced plastic covers from China. We will put them to test soon,鈥� he added.
