Cuttack: It appears that the civic authorities have learned no lesson from the past as open drains in the Millennium City here continue to claim precious lives. And, this time a sanitation worker died after falling into an open drain in Barapathar area of Buxi Bazar under Darghabazar police limits here, barely four days after another youth died falling into a drain in Jhola Sahi area. The deceased was identified as P Narasingha, 27. According to sources, some senior employees of a private agency had called Narasingha and his brother for some work, assuring payment of Rs 1,000 per day.
Sources said that Narasingha fell into the open drain following which his brother alerted the locals, who managed to pull him out and rush the 27-year-old to SCB Medical College and Hospital here in a critical condition. But he was declared ‘dead on arrival’ by the doctors.
Locals, meanwhile, blamed the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) for the mishap and blocked the main road at Buxi Bazar seeking adequate compensation to the deceased sanitation worker’s family. They also burnt tyres when police intervened. This is the second death involving an open drain here in the past four days. A 21-year-old youth had lost his life after falling into an open drain at Jhola Sahi here July 15. The deceased has been identified as Rahul, who hailed from Rajasthan.
As per reports, Rahul had come to Cuttack to meet his relatives but died after falling into the drain. He was on his way to a teashop when the unfortunate incident occurred. Several low-lying parts of Cuttack were waterlogged following heavy rainfall on that day. The incident had spread shockwaves in the area as this is the third such death to be reported in the past couple of months in Silver City. Cuttack Mayor Subhash Chandra Singh condoled Narasingha’s death.