Bhubaneswar: The public works department is yet to walk the talk on streamlining irregularly-placed manholes that pose a life risk for commuters and pedestrians.

The public works department had planned to address the issue in August last year. But, five months have since passed and there are no signs of taking any step at the ground level.

Dangerously-placed manholes - that lie either above or a few inches below the road level - are still found here and there across the city, giving pedestrians and commuters a nightmare.

Areas - such as Old Town, Nayapalli, Kharavela Nagar, Saheed Nagar, Satya Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Surya Nagar and Sailashree Vihar - are full of such death traps. Accidents are common in these areas as either pedestrians fall into the manholes that are placed below the road level or bikers skid after bumping into such danger holes that lie raised above road levels.

"I was going home late at night after work. Since my usual route was closed for some reason, I took an alternative road via Kharavela Nagar and that was a journey through hell for me. I dashed down on a manhole that was raised above the level of the road. Fortunately, I got away only with minor injuries. But, it could have been fatal, especially if there were speeding vehicles behind," said Siripur resident Dibyansh Sahoo, a motorcyclist.

A 75-year-old woman fell in such a manhole at Old Town in August while two workers were killed while repairing such manholes at Nayapalli last year.

"Such manholes are there right on the middle of the roads in many places. The administration just cannot afford to be so careless with the life of the people. There should be a proper and scientific method for placement of such manholes. The administration should look into it with utmost priority," said Unit-III resident Jagannath Majhi, a retired government employee.

The Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board constructs such manholes in the city while the Public Health Engineering Organisation maintains these structures. Both the agencies take permission from the public works department and other agencies such as the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation before putting the manholes on the city streets.

Public works department chief engineer (roads section) O.P. Patel said a committee has been formed to look after the manholes and furnish a report after which the department would draft the standard operating procedure.

"Due to periodic raising of road level, manholes get concealed at some places. Lack of co-ordination among various agencies during the road construction work is also to be blamed for such irregularities," said Patel.