Bantwal : The district administration has recently instructed all local administrative bodies to cover open borewells following the Bijapur  borewell tragedy  which claimed the life of  a four year old child. But what about the gaping holes due to absence of  stone slabs of side drains? Aren’t these posing  equal danger and inviting trouble?

One can see many such gaping  holes  alongside the service road at BC Road, thanks to the dislodged stone labs of the side drains. If many of the drains here are filled with silt, many are wide open. With the area remaining busy throughout the day, the dislodged stone slabs are certainly inviting danger as there is a chance of some unaware person landing straight inside the open drain.

The Deputy Commissioner who had visited the area along with the SP sometime back had directed the NHAI to  desilt all side drains and fix the slabs by May end. However, no such work has been initiated until now.

To add to the problem, the area witnessed artificial floods during the recent heavy rains. To mitigate the problem, the  NHAI is presently engaged in the task of  cleaning up the side drain near the Ganesh Medical at BC Road, which is filled with silt. This move has been made after local shopkeepers, fed up with the apathy of the TMC, warned of protest. The works were initiated  under the supervision of NHAI Engineer Udaykumar and TMC Engineer Dominic D’Mello on June 23 Monday.

Already, TMC Chief Officer Mattadi, President Vasanthi Chandappa, Members  B Mohan, Sadashiva Bangera and others have visited the spot and inspected the ongoing works. Engineer Uday Kumar has also said that the dangling pipes on the flyover too would be repaired.