When a bamboo pole is the saviour

A bamboo pole with a torn plastic sheet wrapped around its top has been doing the commuters of Sutrapur's Katherpool in the capital a huge favour for the last one month: it warns people about a deep lidless manhole. Local people helped themselves because the authorities "did not notice" it yet.

A shopkeeper in the area, Md Milton, said, “It is a very dangerous place. If anyone falls into the manhole, he will die because it is 15 to 20 feet deep."

It is not easy even for an adult to survive in the depth, he said.

Milton has put four bamboo poles into the manhole so far to save people from dangers.

He said vehicles like CNG-run auto-rickshaws often got stuck in the manhole, adding that a police van also was stuck in it during Ramadan. Auto-rickshaw driver Mohammad Ali said the road was very risky due to the open manhole, especially at night. The street lights remaining out of order for the last one month have multiplied the risk, he added.

Ali thinks motorcycle riders are most at risk.

The Sutrapur resident fears a fatal accident may happen anytime because he said a huge number of students walked past the manhole every day.

Only 100 feet away, another manhole lid is partially broken. Locals have filled it with a chunk of concrete.

Kazi Bourhan Uddin, executive engineer of zone-5 of DSCC, said they were not informed of the manhole situation and would take immediate action.