As the traffic came to a standstill Sen left his chauffeur-driven vehicle in the middle of the road near Manik Mia Avenue and started wading towards his house in Indira Road.

"I was wading through knee deep water at Manik Mia Avenue. All of a sudden I fell into a deep hole. I found myself in neck deep water and felt a current underneath my feet. Then I realised it was an open manhole and the flow of water was the mixture of rainwater and sewer water."

Two young men appeared out of nowhere and came to the rescue of Sen. "It was dark and the streets were empty. I am lucky that those two boys showed up otherwise I do not know what could have happened to me as the current was quite strong", Sen added.

He sustained severe knee and ligament injury from the fall and blamed the authority for not marking the open manhole with signs.

"It is in the nature of our government departments that they do not pay attention before something tragic happens. The municipality authority should be more careful as open manholes pose danger to the pedestrians", Sen stressed.

In another incident, a young man who did not want to be named fell in to a manhole in Banani. It was mid April. His taxicab stopped right opposite a restaurant in road no 11. There was no streetlight.

As he got off he could not find land underneath his feet and landed in a hole full of thick mud up to his waist. His friend and the cab driver helped him up. He felt lucky as he only received bruises but the incident left an awful feeling for a long time.

Open manholes posing serious hazards to the pedestrians and smaller vehicles are a common feature in many thoroughfares of the city.

This danger becomes greater during monsoon when heavy shower causes water logging in the streets of Dhaka and covers up the gaps of the open manholes, literally creating death traps.

Sources from the Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) and Dhaka City Corporation (DCC), however, blamed it on thieves and drug addicts. One of the officials of Dhaka Wasa drainage section said that metal covers of the manholes are often stolen at night and afterwards sold at various scrap metal shops in the city.

Officials are riddled with this problem for long and so far they could not come up with any theft proof system.

"We are helpless in this matter. We cannot set up check points for each manhole", the official said.

"During the monsoon however, we open the lid to ease the drainage of the stagnant water. In that case we post signs with red flags or branches. If someone removes the sign we cannot do anything about it," he added.

Both Wasa and DCC officials have no clear idea of the total number of manholes in the city. They said that there are no specific department to look after the manholes. Supervising civil engineers of DCC in different zones and drainage circles of Wasa are responsible for looking after the manholes in their respective areas.

They are not even aware of the total number of uncovered manholes. After the covers are stolen the manholes often remain open and unprotected for months. They take action after someone from the neighbourhood lodge complaints.

A DCC source said that without the installation cost one metal cover costs about Tk 1500. They are mostly made of iron and steel. "We have stocks in every division. Whenever theft is reported we replace them. On average around 8 to 10 covers get stolen every week from my area," said one of the zonal engineers of DCC.

This illegal business of stealing manhole covers has been going on for years in the city. Apparently no preventive measures have been taken by the authority.

It is also causing environmental pollution.