It seems the UT Administration and the Municipal Corporation here have not learnt any lesson from the shocking case of two-year-old Fatehveer Singh, who had fallen into a 150-foot-deep borewell in Punjab and was bought out dead after 109 hours recently.
Even though the authorities earlier claimed that they had not found any open borewell in the city, several open manholes and road gullies continue to pose a threat to the lives of people.
A 20-foot-deep manhole near Axis Bank in Sector 34-A is lying open for the past several days. Traders say they have contacted the authorities concerned to get it covered but to no avail.
“It is a market place and has a high footfall. We caution passersby, especially children, about this open hole. To alert people, we keep a branch of a tree in it. We do not want anyone to accidentally fall into it,” said Raman Kumar, a local resident.
An uncovered manhole in Hallo Majra poses a threat too but the authorities are yet to wake up.
Likewise, several road gullies are lying open in different parts of the city. Road gullies are maintained by the MC. After repair or maintenance work, these are left uncovered. The MC workers return to cover these after a long delay.