Patchy repairs to manholes lambasted by residents

Secunderabad: Allegations of Irregularities in undertaking repairs to damaged manholes and their covers are doing the rounds in Secunderabad Cantonment constituency. It is being alleged that even those in good shape being replaced under the guise of repairs. Rather oddly, those manholes which are damaged are not being given equal attention.

Local residents told The Hans India that such repair works seem to have become sources of making money. They accuse the board officials of neglecting quality while taking up repair works. As a result, the manholes are back to their worst condition in no time. This is leading to new problems, the residents allege, because of lack of proper supervision by HMWSSB officials at the ground level.

The residents cite the example of the prevailing scenario in Marredpally Main Road where good manholes have been replaced. Without repair works, the damaged covers are being re-used. As a consequence, on the Cantonment Picket Road, the manholes which remain damaged for long are being neglected, according to the residents.

The damaged and sunken manholes without covers are causing accidents in areas like Karkhana, Lakshminagar, Vasavinagar, Sikh Village, they point out. "None is paying any attention to even damaged manholes, as the Cantonment Board officials seemed to have colluded with the contractor," they allege, adding that this is causing problems to both vehicle-riders and pedestrians.

The residents of Annanagar and Rasoolpura told THI that covers of manholes in their areas have been missing for long. "They have become death traps." They accused the board officials of taking up only notional repairs resulting in mishaps when heavy vehicles pass over them, leading to leakage or breaking up of drainage pipes.

With both the Jalamandali and the contractors leaving their tasks incomplete in some areas, where the manholes covers are missing, the residents fear that there is a good scope for accidents in such spots. They want the SCB to arrange new manhole covers at the earliest, so as to avoid hardships to people.