Bangalore is not the only city with 'holes', meet Hyderabad; Sr citizen drowns in manhole

, Oct 7: A small girl was washed away in a storm rain hole in Bangalore, but that is not just one case in point. Hyderabad too has reported of a similar incident in the past 24 hours. Ironically, both the cities are gearing up to be part of a list of world-class metros.

Hyderabad specially poses a contradictory picture. All decked up to host Telangana's first international conference - the 11th World Metropolis Congress, the city also complains of manholes that have taken the lives of several people.

The body of a senior citizen was found in a naked manhole in Himayat Nagar on Sunday morning. 65 year old Hemant Sahay is reported to have fallen into the hole when he was returning home the previous night from a Dussera function at his brother's place. Mr Sahay's son said,"Not one, but 20 manholes have been left open on that street for the last few weeks. There are no streetlights."

Agreeing with him was Mr Sahay's brother Piyush Sahay who said that none of the open manholes have signboards or warnings to warn people. He said," This is criminal negligence on the part of the municipal corporation, We will definitely take action, if the government does not."

Commissioner, GHMC, G Somesh Kumar, said they are taking the accident seriously. He said, "The contractor was executing the project. We still can't say if the engineers were negligent. But we want to send a clear message that such negligence is not acceptable."

However, the public is of a different opinion. V Kanakaratnam, president of the Senior Citizens' Association, said,"Hyderabad, the politicians say, will be international class, but it is not happening. It is a shame, when some 300 foreigners are in the city. This news is an insult to the image of the city and country."

OneIndia News