Uncovered drains on Kozhikode city roads turn deathtraps
The Hindu
Two lives lost in past three months in Kozhikode city
Endangering pedestrians’ safety, a number of deep drainages are remaining open along suburban and city roads like deathtraps where the city corporation is yet to make quick intervention. Within the past three months alone, two persons fell into such uncovered drains and lost their lives. The latest incident took place at Palazhi on Saturday where a middle-aged autorickshaw driver was found dead inside an open drain.
Union leaders representing autorickshaw drivers from the area said the man reportedly fell into the open drain while he was wading through a waterlogged road. During the rainy season, many persons unfamiliar with the dangerous condition of drains had met with such freak accidents causing serious leg injuries, they said.
Though many of the dangerous open drains in the urban area had been earlier closed by the corporation authorities following mass complaints, they failed to complete the emergency work in many of the unnoticed suburban areas. Such uncovered locations were later found emerging as problem spots during heavy rain.