Hyderabad: Three workers and a cab driver who tried to rescue them died in a manhole at Ayyappa Society on Saturday. A pedestrian had been washed away in the same stretch in June.
Police said three unskilled workers, identified as Srinivas, Satyanarayana and Nagesh from Tarnaka, entered the manhole one after the other and died. A cab driver, identified as Gangadhar, who went to rescue them, also died.
The three had been hired by a sub-contractor. Main contractor Loka Reddy had been blacklisted after the June tragedy. It was on June 28 that a pedestrian Moti Yadav fell into the manhole in Madhapur and was washed away by floodwater.
Police said on Saturday the first worker entered the 25-foot manhole to clean it at 4.23 pm opposite Raju Cricket Academy at Ayyappa Society in Madhapur. The workers did not have any safety gear.
There was no response from him for a few minutes, following which two others jumped in to try and rescue him. On seeing them being sucked into the manhole, cab driver Gangadhar jumped in to save them, and died, police said.
A fifth person, a 108 ambulance personnel, too tried to save the men, and has been admitted in hospital after complaining of breathing problem.
Eyewitness Naveen Singh of Ameerpet told this newspaper: “It all happened in a few minutes. I stopped to see when the second worker, was calling out for the one who went in first. Then he also jumped in. When he did not respond, the third worker also followed suit. Then, a cab driver, who was watching them, jumped in to save them. None of them came out. Mr Singh called the ambulance and the police. The Madhapur police station was just 20 meters away but the police turned up 20 minutes later.
The ambulance staffer tried to enter the manhole using a rope. “But the rope broke and the man fell in. Fortunately, we managed to pull him out,” an eyewitness said.
The GHMC’s west zone deputy commissioner Gangadaram Reddy said the incomplete sewerage connection works belonged to the Sewerage Board. It is the same trench where a pedestrian had died in June.” Cops have booked a negligence case against contractor G. K Infrastructure.
How it happened?
- Water Board allotted the job of laying a sewer line to contractor Loka Reddy, who had been blacklisted after the incomplete trench work claimed the life of a pedestrian in June.
- Loka Reddy appointed a sub-contractor who employed three unskilled workers to clear a blockage at Ayyappa Society. He deployed them without any safety gear, not even ropes.
- No machinery such as the Airtech machine was used to clear the manhole.
City’s killer manholes
May 2016: two labourers die after getting trapped in a manhole at Koti. The two were trying to remove a block in a sewer line when one man collapsed inside. The other then stepped into the hole to rescue him. But both of them died inside the manhole. Officials believe that methane inside the sewer line killed the men.
June 2016: Victim Moti Yadav fell into a manhole that was filled with water at Sai Priya Medical Hall opposite Kasani Grand Hotel in Madhapur. He died.
2011: The Lokayukta, following a petition filed against the GHMC for negligence leading to the death of a woman who had falled into an open manhole, issued notices to the GHMC to install grilles in every manhole in the twin cities. The grilles would protect the person who had fallen in from getting washed away. But so far, no grilles have been installed.
4.70 lakh: There are 4.70 lakh manholes and catch pits in GHMC limits, of which 2.70 lakh belong to the GHMC and the rest to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB).
Any citizen, who want to report a missing or damaged manhole cover, can call Metro Customer Care on 155313 and file their complaint for which a token number will be generated and monitored till completion of the work. This is in addition to the WhatsApp service (cell no: 9949930003) where citizens can share photos and videos as well, said HMWSSB authorities.
