Over 8 lakh metres of uncovered drain is posing serious safety risks to city dwellers in the State Capital, figures released by the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) said on Thursday; a day after a five-year-old girl drowned to death in an open drain in Hindpiri.
According to figures with the RMC, out of the 14,01,808 meters of drains in the city, only 5,57,390 meters is covered. The remaining, 84,4,112 meters of drain is prone to water logging during the ongoing monsoon and may prove to be dangerous for commuters.
“We have already covered nearly 60 per cent of drains in the city. A project for covering the remaining 40 per cent has also been approved and the work will begin soon,” said Ranchi’s Deputy Mayor Sanjeev Vijaywargiya. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for covering up the open drains was approved hardly a month after it was proposed, he added. The RMC spent around Rs 55 lakh in covering open drains here in the past one and a half years.
However, five-year-old Falak’s death on Wednesday sparked debates over the efficiency of the RMC and the Urban Development Department across the State. Political parties on Thursday slammed the Government for its alleged apathy towards the dilapidated condition of roads and drains in the State capital. The matter also rocked the monsoon session of the Assembly on Thursday. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in to the various projects related to drainage construction and maintenance in the city and asked the Government to pay a compensation of Rs.10 lakh to the family of the deceased girl.
“The Urban Development Department has to take responsibility of the incident. Crores of rupees have been sanctioned for maintenance of drainage system in the city so far, where all the money is going?” said Tanuj Khatri, Spokesperson of JMM.
Eyewitnesses said that Falak, daughter of Mohammad Saddam, who worked as a help in a local shop, fell in the drain while returning from her tuition on Wednesday.
The kindergarten student, police said, could not spot the drain due to overflow of water and slipped into it. She was drifted away at least three kilometers by the flow of the water. Locals rescued her and rushed her to the nearest hospital where she was declared dead.
On the issue of compensation, Vijaywargiya said that there was a provision of compensation of up to Rs 10,000 for families of people involved in such accidents.