The death of a 16-year-old boy, Vishal, after falling into an open manhole, has brought to the fore the failure of Patna Municipal Corporation to cover them.

The perils of open manholes become prominent during the monsoon, as many roads get waterlogged and chances of pedestrians falling into them increase.

Vishal was a resident of Dhobi Ghat in Patna. He died after falling in a 25ft-deep manhole near Hartali Mor on Saturday night. Those residing near the place of accident told The Telegraph that the cover got damaged because of which the accident occurred.

The civic body, however, appeared to have become alert after the accident because on Monday, a new lid had been put over the manhole which devoured a young life.

"Vishal had recently been promoted to Class XII. He was set to attend his first class on Monday. On Saturday morning, he went to the market alone to buy a few things. He was very happy," said Vishal's mother Madhuri Devi, as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Vishal's father Shiv Ram held the PMC responsible for the death of his son.

"Had the PMC taken the pain of changing the damaged cover of the manhole, my son would have been alive today," said Ram.

Patna continues to have open manholes and some with damaged covers even after several deaths been reported in the city. Because of such callousness a similar tragedy is waiting to happen. Last year, a three-year-old girl fell into an open manhole at Lohanipur under the jurisdiction of Kadamkuan police station.

Her death came just three months after a five-year-old, Roshan Kumar, died after falling into one of the manholes at Bhootnath Road under the jurisdiction of Agamkuan police station.

The incident occurred on May 21 last year.

On Monday, The Telegraph found open manholes near Gandhi Maidan (near Biscomaun Bhavan), Fraser Road (the turning in front of All India Radio, Patna office) and Nageshwar Colony. The residents of these areas claimed that the manholes were left uncovered in the areas for the past two to four years. There are around 500 manholes in the city, many of which can be found without covers.

PMC officials, however, said they had initiated steps to address the problem but the ground reality is contrary to their claims.

The additional municipal commissioner, Shirshat Kapil Ashok, said the corporation had already asked executive officers and executive engineers of all the four circles to cover the open manholes in the city apart from replacing the damaged covers with new ones.

"We have already provided Rs 5 lakh a month ago to all the four circles for executing the work," said Ashok.

However, when asked why several manholes were still left uncovered even after a month of providing the funds, Ashok said: "The work is in progress. There are many manholes in the city. It will take some time to complete the work."