Drain or death trap!

Within the span of a month, the open drain in the port city took another life – now a university student who fell into the gutter Monday night, got swept away and finally died.

Earlier in last month, a vegetable seller met the same fate and is still missing.

The repeating pattern of being slipped into the drain and vanished into the thin air has put the city residents in the grip of panic who are laying blame on the authorities concerned that seem to be unconcerned about the loss of life.

The port city has 151-kilometre open drain, most of which are now being rebuilt under multiple projects and are kept open, thus clearly posing ‘death traps’.

The mounting sufferings are due mainly to procrastination over the implementation of a host of projects undertaken by the Chattogram City Corporation, Chattogram Development Authority and Water Development Board, according to a cross section of people in the city.

Newton Das, a Fire Service official, said it took five hours to find Sherin Mahabub Sadia, 20, a Private University student, who fell into a ditch in Agrabad amid light rain.

There is no way to walk along the road due to mud and water, and so, this young woman presumably took the bank of the open drain, he added.

Sadia was taken to a local hospital where the on-duty doctor pronounced her dead.

Shamim Ahsan, deputy director of Fire Service in Chattogram, said most of the drains in port city are open and so dangerous that anyone could have an accident any time.

“Roads that go underwater during shower merge with drains and pedestrians cannot distinguish between drain and road,” according to Shamim.

No Body is taking responsibility

Relatives believe that Sadia’s death was due to the negligence of the authorities.

Zakir Hossain, Sadia’s uncle, reacted angrily to the mismanagement of the service-providing agencies, saying that everything is being done away with in the name of development.

“There is a drain open but no one has headache. If there was a security fence, my niece would have survived,” he vented his reaction.

The CDA is implementing the largest Chattogram water logging alleviation project with the help of the Engineering Construction Battalion of Bangladesh Army. Although the project was supposed to be completed in June 2021, only 58 per cent work has been completed so far.

Colonel Shah Ali, leader of the army team involved in the project, said responsibility for repair and cleaning the drain where Saleh Amad went missing is under their project, but work has not started there yet.

There was no work under the CDA water logging project in the Agrabad area where Sadia lost her life, he mentioned.

There are about 1500km drains in Chattogram metropolis, of which there are 151km large drains including canals in which accidents are taking place.

All these canals and drains are supposed to be cleaned and maintained by the city corporation.

But Rafiqul Islam, Chief Engineer of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) said the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) is in charge of the construction work. After the end of construction, these will be handed over to the CCC. Till then the CDA is responsible for any accident.

Drains turn into ‘death tarps’

Canals and drains that constitute a large part of 151km are open while no railing or security fence has been put up along their banks.

Colonel Shah Ali said most of the large canals and drains will remain open and there are clear instructions from the higher level of the government.

If the canals are covered with slabs, vehicles will start moving on them and they may be illegally occupied, he said, adding that the construction of box culvert was not included in the project.

Asked whether these canals will be fenced for safety, Shah Ali said: “The matter will be discussed with the higher authorities.”

Open canals and large drains will pose a significant risk, said Shamim Ahsan, deputy director, Fire Service, Chattogram.

“The city’s canals and drains are so full of waste that if someone falls in there, the chances of survival are slim. Moreover, there are no warning sign even to alert the pedestrians,” he observed.