Staff Reporter :The body of minor boy Nirob, who fell into an uncovered manhole in the capital’s Shyampur area on Tuesday afternoon was recovered after four hours from the river Buriganga as he emerged from the sewerage line two kilometers off the manhole near Palpara.Ismail Hossein Nirab, 6, a resident of Palpara area of Shyampur Union under Dhaka Metropolitan area fell into the manhole while playing with friends in open field. The ill fated boy fell into the uncovered manhole of a sewerage line around 4.20pm and the body was recovered at 8:30pm, police said. It was almost the same case of Zihad who had fallen into an open well at Shahjahanpur railway colony in December last year. At least five units of Fire Service and Civil Defense worked together and , recovered the body of the boy after fanatical search, said Fire Service and Civil Defense Control Room duty officer Bhajan Kumar Sarker.He said, “On information, fire service personnel rushed to the spot and stated to look for the boy who was already in the sewerage and slowly moving towards the river.”A team of at least five divers led the search operation for Nirob, Inspector Bhajan Sarker said.The fire service official said the rescuers were facing difficulties due to heavy current in sewerage line. .The boy fell into the open sewerage line near Jagoroni Club while playing with others kids around 4:20pm, said Kazi Wazed Ali, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Kadamtali Police Station. After recovery the body was rushed to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) from river Buriganga around 8:30pm while the on-duty doctors declared the boy dead around 9:30pm. Additional police personnel have been deployed in the area to avert any untoward situation, the OC said. A witness said, “Nirab fell into the manhole as another boy pushed him while playing there.Meanwhile, a local claimed that another minor boy fell into the same manhole six months ago and faced the fate of Nirob. The body of that boy was recovered one day later from the river Buriganga, he said, adding that though the authorities were informed about the incident, no step was taken to cover the manhole.Earlier, a four-year-old boy fell into an abandoned uncovered well of WASA that was at least 600 feet deep at Shahjahan Railway Colony in the capital on December 26, 2014.The child, named Jihad, fell accidentally while playing with his friends at the colony playground and his playmates notified his family soon after the incident.The body of Jihad was recovered from the well after nearly 24 hours on December 27. After Jihad’s death both the city corporations — Dhaka North and Dhaka South — and WASA announced they would not spare any employee of the utility service if any uncovered manhole is found in the city.But such a warning went in vain as many uncovered sewerage manholes can be spotted everywhere in the capital endangering lives of people specially the minor children. Sources said, uncovered manholes are more prevalent in the old part of the city. Even, open manholes can also be spotted in city’s posh areas.”Manholes remain uncovered sometimes as the metal tops got stolen. But we try to replace them as early as possible,” an official of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) told The New Nation on Tuesday night on condition of anonymity. He said, in most cases, thieves and drug addicts steal the iron tops of manholes in the darkness of night. With the increase in the number of drug users over the last few years, stealing of manhole covers has also seen a rise.Echoing with DSCC official, a senior official of Dhaka WASA said that they have nearly 42,000 manholes with each of its six zonal areas having around 7,000. But their covers are often got stolen and sometimes we find it difficult to replace them as the lids are not always readily available. But we try to replace them as early as possible. He, however, mentioned that a large number of manholes belong to the Dhaka City Corporations, but people think WASA is responsible for them.The WASA official claimed that they regularly monitor the manholes under their jurisdiction. Both of the officials, however, admitted that it becomes hard for them to replace the missing and damaged manhole covers due to fund shortage.
