Risking lives, manhole covers not soldered into place

Ludhiana:Despite being pointed out several times, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has failed to pay attention towards manhole covers that have not been levelled against roads. The manhole cover level is either above or below the road surface in different parts of the city, inviting mishaps. These have become a nightmare for commuters. Several manhole covers are badly damaged on Giaspura Road. These are not levelled with the road surface and look like big craters filled with overflowing sewage. The situation is almost similar in the internal areas of Giaspura, where residents are struggling with such manholes for over six months now. A few manholes on the Ferozepur Road, near Aggar Nagar and National Road, are above the road surface. Besides, some manhole covers on Hambran Road, Focal Point, Jeevan Nagar, Noorwala Chowk to Jalandhar bypass service lane, Pakhowal Road, near Salem Tabri on Old GT Road among other areas are crying for attention. Despite pointing out repeatedly, no survey has been conducted to check such manhole covers. A member of State Road Safety Council, Rahul Verma, said such manhole covers are very dangerous due to poor engineering for two-wheelers that lose balance while passing over it. He said: “I have noticed that the level of manhole covers is not correct on various roads in the city. It is the responsibility of the civic body or the authorities concerned to immediately take steps to get such manhole covers repaired to avoid accidents.” It is learnt that the MC keeps raising the level of road each time it is re-carpeted. However, the level of many manhole covers is yet to be corrected. Jaswinder Singh, former superintending engineer of Punjab Water Supply and Sanitation Department, said: “Whenever roads are carpeted, the level of manholes must be corrected otherwise they start causing serious mishaps. The MC should identify such faulty manhole covers and requisite steps should be taken in this regard.” MC Superintending Engineer Dharam Singh said: “We will look into the matter and take requisite steps to level the manholes with roads.”— Harshraj Singh