Three slabs missing from a footpath near Baramunda bus stand and (below) an open drainage pit near Maa Santoshi temple at Bomikhal. Telegraph pictures

Bhubaneswar, May 14: A spate of accidents has taken place in the capital in the last couple of months because of openings on footpaths in various areas of the city. The civic authorities, however, claim that they are unaware of the existence of these life-threatening openings.

About three weeks ago an old man fell into a partially open drain near Bomikhal Maa Santoshi temple and was seriously injured. A month before this incident, a young man fell into the same pit.

A vegetable vendor near the temple, who was witness to both the mishaps, said the slabs were displaced four months ago and since then no one has bothered to put them in place. Neither the civic authorities nor officials of the national highway (NH) came forward to do the needful.

However, local councillor, Prarthana Mohapatra of ward No. 21, said: “Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has nothing to do with the repair of the pit as the land and the structure belongs to national highway, Orissa. But, I will try to contact the executive engineer as soon as possible and try to do something so that the displaced slabs are put back at the right place.”

Asim Kanungo, a local resident and retired engineer, said: “The drain was built to facilitate the discharge of wastewater from a huge apartment complex at Bomikhal area. It was supposed to take the wastewater up to the drainage channel No. 10 near the temple.”

B.C. Pradhan, chief engineer, NH, Orissa, said: “The cover over the pit near the Maa Santoshi temple will be replaced and, if required, we would also renovate it once our engineers visit the spot and find the ground realities. The renovation of the entire concrete pipe structure could also be done during the expansion plan of NH-203.”

Apart from Bomikhal, even the footpath on the left side of the exit road for buses near Baramunda bus stand faces a similar problem. Many concrete slabs here have either been removed from their original position near the autorickshaw stand or have been damaged. The gap of three slabs is enough to injure even an adult.

“Last week a boy riding a bicycle fell inside and got injured near the point. Passengers keep coming hurriedly from the bus stand to catch other buses going towards Cuttack, Puri, Baripada, Balasore, Bhadrak and nearby areas. Thus, this type of gap on the footpath causes many minor mishaps on a day-to-day basis,” said Kuna Singh from Mayurbhanj district, who came to the capital for personal work.

A local resident, Master Apollo, said: “The authorities of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) should replace the slabs so that passengers passing through the stretch can be saved.”

A nearby dhaba owner said in the last two months more than seven cases of injury were reported from the spot. “I have even requested members of the autorickshaw association to lift the slabs so that it helps commuters. But no one was interested to extend help and it was not possible on my part to lift the heavy slabs all by myself,” he said.

Aditya K. Ray, project director, NHAI, Orissa, said: “At times goons also lift the concrete plates and take them for personal use. But if the slabs are lying there, then our staff will place them over the drain within 24 hours.”

Not only Bomikhal or Baramunda, but also many stretches in the capital, especially on the Nandankanan-Jayadev Vihar stretch, gaps due to removal of slabs are causing mishaps as more students of the city frequent the particular stretch.