The existence of open drains in Jharkhand's state capital has become a menace for its citizens with accidents and cases of drowning proving to be a serious cause of concern. More lives have been put in peril owing to a continued lack of effort from the administration to fix these drains.
According to a report by Dainik Bhaskar, over Rs 400 core has been spent in the last 22 years on building and covering drains in the city. But, to date, open drains across Ranchi have not been completely covered and have been built in a haphazard manner.
The task to build and fix these drains had been undertaken by the Ranchi Municipal Corporate (RMC), the Road Construction Department (RRDA), Zilla Parishad and the Rural Engineering Organization (REO).
The drains had been built above the road height without any provisions for the water to pass in. And in case of heavy rainfall, the water stayed on the roads instead of flowing into the drain. This has led to waterlogging of public roads and inundation of shops and houses in the vicinity.
Last year, the RMC had identified 45 such drains that were open and dangerous and was ordered by Urban Development and Housing Department Secretary Vinay Kumar Choubey to complete the reconstruction and covering of drains and manholes by June 10. But, a report from TOI revealed that the RMC had opted to barricade the open drains instead of covering them to prevent accidents.
So far, 1500 km of drains have been built in the city. However, they have not been properly connected to each other, leading to accidents. Large and Open drains in Lalpur's Dhobi Ghat and in Dangra Toli are among those contributing to public hazard.
The Dainik Bhaskar report noted that the condition of these drains had worsened ever since the civic body elections in 2008. Several councillors had built more open drains that are anywhere between 100 to 200 metres in length in a bid to appease their votes. These drains have become dangerous for civilians at several points in the city.
Ranchi's drain-related accidents in last five years
In 2018, five-year-old Falak Akhtar was studying tuition in the Nala Road area. Falak succumbed to his injuries after falling into an open drain and his body was later recovered from the Swarnarekha river after it had flown away for nearly six kilometres.
In 2019, another child was swept away, this time in Lalpur's Lower Vardhman Compound. The boy escaped fatality after his mother risked her life to pull him out of the drain.
In 2020, a young man crossing the Khorhatoli bridge in Kokar was swept away due to an inundation caused by heavy rains. To date, his body has not been recovered.
In 2021, a 55-year-old man was swept away by overflowing water while crossing a road in Pandara's Panchsheel Nagar. The man's body was recovered a day later from the Kanke Dam after he had been swept away for five kilometres.
And this year alone has seen two more incidents due to the open drain apathy.
A person was washed away during heavy rains in the Gonda's Sarai Tand area. His body was recovered a day later after it was found at least two kilometres away from the drain. Similarly, the body of another youth was swept away along the Hatma drain located in the Saraitand area and was recovered a day later.