How many must die before they wake up?
When open sewers in the port city have become a death trap claiming at least four lives in the span of just three months, the authorities concerned stay in a deep slumber instead of taking measures to prevent such deaths.
The latest victim of their sheer negligence is Sehrin Mahbub Sadia, a first-year computer science student of International Islamic University Chittagong. The 19-year-old died after falling into an open drain in Agrabad Badamtali area around 10:00pm on Monday. She slipped into the drain while walking towards her car along with her grandfather and an uncle. Firefighters recovered her body five hours later after removing a few tonnes of waste.
The street along which the drain is has lately been narrowed down for the construction of an elevated expressway by Chattogram Development Authority (CDA).
Also, the area was dark as street lights have been out of order for months. Making sure a street is adequately lit is among the key responsibilities of any city corporation.
Sadia's death has touched off outrage in Chattogram and beyond, but apparently failed to hammer any concern and sensitivity into CDA and Chattogram City Corporation (CCC).
They are now locked in a blame game over whose responsibility it is to stop recurrence of such incidents.
Kazi Hasan Bin Shams, chief engineer of CDA, told The Daily Star yesterday that the city corporation failed to perform its duty.
"It has been just two years since we were handed over the drains. What did the city corporation do before that? It did not build any safety enclosures along the drains," he said.
Besides, it is the duty of the city corporation to keep the drains clean, he said.
Asked why CDA did not build any such enclosures, he said they would start putting up fences once a project to mitigate waterlogging is completed. For the time being, they will set up temporary safety enclosures along under-construction drains.
When queried further what caused them to make delay in setting up the temporary fences for the safety of pedestrians, he chose to keep mum.
He claimed that the drain where Monday's incident took place was a minor one and thus it was completely under the jurisdiction of CCC.
Rafiqul Islam, chief engineer of CCC, did not respond when these correspondents tried to reach him over the phone.
CCC Mayor Rezaul Karim while visiting the spot Tuesday took a rather indirect line to shift the blame on CDA.
He told reporters he won't say who was responsible for the incident. There was a railing along the drain but it was removed when the construction work of an elevated expressway began.
"If there were a warning sign or a red flag, people would have been alerted to the danger. So, there was some negligence on part of those [CDA] who are constructing the expressway," he added.
Locals and eyewitnesses say CDA took the slab off the drain where the accident took place and downsized the footpath to 1.5 feet from around 5 feet.
Visiting the spot yesterday, it was seen that the CCC has erected a bamboo fence on the spot.
Parimal Barua, a shopkeeper in Agrabad Badamtali area, said at least seven people, including two women, fell into the drain on the same spot in the last five days.
"We could rescue them somehow," he said, adding, "Most of those accidents occurred at night as the place remains dark and pedestrians often fail to notice the drain."
As per the last annual report of CCC, the port city has 946 kilometres of drains, most of which are open, narrowed and clogged with plastic and other trash.
CDA has been implementing a project to mitigate waterlogging in the port city. And CCC has handed over the drains to CDA as it has been widening the drains to facilitate the water flow into rivers under the project.
CDA will renovate and expand 1,008 kilometres of drains crisscrossing the city.
The drains that have been widened so far are left to lie open, making it difficult for pedestrians to locate them when it's dark and when the areas are waterlogged.
During a visit across the city, two kilometres of drains under CDA was found open from the city's Dui Number Gate to Bahaddarhat. The area is exposed to severe waterlogging. The drains along Agrabad's Access Road, Port Connecting Road, and part of Sheikh Mujib Road were found open too.
Shahidul Islam Swapan, a resident in Bahaddarhat area, told The Daily Star it was really tough to tell a drain from a street during waterlogging.
"If there is at least a warning sign, people would be able to avoid slipping into the drains," he said.
Town planner engineer Subhash Barua said the terms and conditions of any public project given to a contractor clearly state that public safety has to be maintained strictly during the work. But in many CDA projects, contractors are seen violating the instructions, he said.
"Drains and canals are left open, posing risk of accidents to the pedestrian's," he said adding, "CCC also cannot skirt the responsibility as it has left most of the drains without lids and railings."
In the meantime, people are dying falling into drains.
On August 15, a vegetable vendor, Saleh Ahmed, 50, slipped into a drain in the city's Muradpur area. Firefighters could not even locate his body and called off the rescue operation after three days.
Earlier on June 30, A CNG-run auto-rickshaw plunged into a drain in Sholosohor area. Two passengers died on the spot.
Hours after Sadia's body was recovered, her classmates blocked Sheikh Mujib Road, protesting negligence by the authorities and demanding trial of those responsible for the death.
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