In yet another tragic incident that highlighted the state of civic affairs in Hyderabad, an elderly man died on Thursday after he fell into a deep pit while crossing the road in Balanagar.
The pit had reportedly been dug up by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) to lay a new pipeline.
According to a report in The New Indian Express, the deceased, identified as Oruganti Chandrasekhar Rao (70), was heading home when a speeding RTC bus made him hold on to a caution board for support.
However, Rao was knocked off balance and fell into the pit, where he died, even before the ambulance arrived.
The Deccan Chronicle reported that the police did not name the contractor in the case that was registered, but the barricades had the name of Megha Engineering Infrastructure Limited.
“Based on a complaint from his daughter Karunasri, a case of death due to negligence under Section 304-a of the IPC was booked against the contractor and Water Board officials. Based on the evidence we will proceed,” Balanagar inspector P Bikshapathi Rao told DC.
This incident comes just days after P Chandrasekhar, a traffic Inspector in Begumpet, took a private contractor to task in Hyderabad, for digging a road without adequate safety measures.
Chandrasekhar recently found that a 2km road behind Buddha Bhavan leading to Minister's Road has been dug up by a private contractor of Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSSPDCL), and that the dug out area had become a threat for commuters.
The pit was also causing traffic congestion in the area, Chandrasekhar said.
“The road does not have any barricades or warning signboards to tell people that construction is happening there. They have dug up the road and kept it like that, did not even clear the debris. This road has become prone to fatal accidents for the commuters,” Chandrasekhar had told TNM earlier.