Dug-up pits in the Guwahati city are turning into savages for commoners every single day. Rarely does the concerned department make an effort to oversee the problems despite repeated warnings.
In yet another tragic incident, a youth died after falling inside a dug-up pit near Gate Hospital in Guwahati’s Mathgharia locality.
The deceased has been identified as Sourav Kumar Das (28).
As per initial inputs, the incident took place last July 14, the youth was rushed to GNRC hospital for treatment; however, the youth succumbed to his injuries at the hospital on Saturday night.
The youth was on his way to pick up a birthday gift when he fell under the excavated pit, informed a source.
The dug-up pit was later filled up with soil by the concerned department.
Sources revealed that the deceased obtained his engineering degree from Jorhat Engineering College last year.
Notably, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma slammed deputy commissioners, particularly those in Dibrugarh and Kamrup Metro districts, last month after two major traffic accidents occurred in the state as a result of dug-up pits.
CM Sarma during a virtual conference (VC) with all the DCs has directed them to take strict action against the contractors or persons involved in keeping the dug-up pot holes open and leaving it unattended, thus, causing hindrance to the public.
Someone has to take the responsibility; there is an incident of loss of life, a person had died, why was the contractor not arrested?” questioned the chief minister to Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner Biswajit Pegu.
CM Sarma has directed all the DCs to fix up all the dug-up pits across all the districts by June 12, 2023.
“If there is any ongoing work going on in the dug-up pits, there should be proper barricading with bamboo and a red flag, otherwise start restoration work immediately on priority,” said the chief minister.
Taking on the Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup Metro District Administration, Pallav Gopal Jha, CM Sarma queried about the dug-up pits for ongoing work on two drainage systems near Guwahati’s Ulubari locality.
“Once there is a heavy downpour overnight, the road near Ulubari will come under water. How people will distinguish that there is a hole? Or there is a drainage work going on? At least the Admin of the Kamrup Metro should have shown some sensitivity to complete the task before the flood at any point of time. If not, the work should have been carried out under proper barricading,” added CM Sarma.
The chief minister also rebuked the PWD department official (Kamrup Metro District) who was also present in the meeting for not completing the drainage work for the last couple of years despite repeated orders.
