‘Who will take liability for this?’

Three days have passed since vegetable trader Saleh Ahmed (55) fell into a roadside drain at the port city's Muradpur area, but fire service's rescue team is yet to trace him.

Biplob Kanti Nath, team leader of the diving unit of fire service, said they could not trace the man as of yesterday evening. He said the accident occurred as there was no retaining wall or any demarcation mark in the drain area.

"My father fell down the drain on Wednesday morning due to the sheer negligence of the authorities," said a grief-stricken Mohammad Mahim, Saleh's son.

Mahim has been at the spot for the last three days along with fire service personnel, searching for Saleh.

"The authorities could have at least put up a red flag, warning people of the drain there. That way, this accident could have been avoided," Mahim said.

"Who will take liability for this accident?" he asked.

Meanwhile, residents said with most of the city canals as well as secondary and tertiary drains remaining uncovered and unfenced, accidents have become a common scene during waterlogging, and

even during normal times.

During a recent visit, this correspondent saw that the canals and tertiary drains on Chatteshwari Road, Chawkbazar, Katalganj, Prabarttak, Muradpur, Chashma Hill, Panchlaish and Jamal Khan Road areas had no retaining walls.

At least three people were killed and many others sustained injuries in the past three months after falling into drains and canals in a similar manner.

In June, an auto-rickshaw driver and a female passenger died after the vehicle fell in a drain at Chashma Hill in Hill View area.

Residents held the authorities concerned liable for these accidents.

"The canals and roadside drains have been left without retaining walls, but the authorities aren't doing anything about it," said Tanvir Ahmed, a resident of Zakir Hossain Road area.

Meanwhile, officials of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) and Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) continue to blame each other over the issue.

Rafiqul Alam, chief engineer of CCC, said as the CDA has been implementing a mega project to address waterlogging in the city, it is their responsibility to build retaining walls.

Contacted, CDA chief engineer Hasan Bin Shams said they have been implementing the project for three years. "What did CCC do in the past 15 years? Why didn't they build the walls?"

"We are not working on all canals and drains in the city. We are focusing on 36 canals and the main tertiary drains. We will build retaining walls after the completion of our work," he said.

Despite repeated attempts, city mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury could not be contacted for comments.