Bhubaneswar, Aug. 9: Badly done manholes on major city roads have put the life and limbs of commuters at risk.

While at some places the manhole covers are higher than the road level, a few are low enough to pass off as potholes. The majority of such manholes can be spotted at Nayapalli and Saheed Nagar.

"At places the manhole covers jut out from the road level, while there are a few that look like potholes. Anyone can fall in these traps while commuting on such roads," said Nayapalli resident Bidyadhar Mohapatra.

At Saheed Nagar, manholes on the road connecting Maharishi College of Natural Law to Janpath have become a nightmare for commuters. "I almost fell while negotiating one such manhole. I was riding my two-wheeler with ease, but suddenly a raised manhole came in my way," said Rasulgarh resident Aakash Das.

Another such manhole on the busy Cuttack-Puri highway is a major threat to commuters. A manhole on this stretch near Bomikhal Square has gone below the road level.

The situation becomes risky during rains when the road goes underwater.

"The construction of railway overbridge and the underground cable laying work triggered waterlogging on this stretch, mainly near Bomikhal. The poorly placed manhole has invited fresh trouble for the commuters. However, the authorities have turned a blind eye to this problem," said Bomikhal resident Sanjay Baliarsingh.

In an attempt to ensure the commuters' safety on roads, the public works department is set to come up with a standard operating procedure to construct sewer manholes on the roads and alongside them.

It has been decided to form a panel with members, including the works secretary, member secretary of the Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation's city engineer and some others, for framing the standard operating procedure for manhole construction.

The procedures will ensure prevention of unnecessary raising of road level and concealing manholes below the road. It will also ensure that the underground utilities such as drinking water pipes, sewerage pipes as well as electrical and telephone wires are not damaged due to unsystematic excavation of roads.

"It was observed that due to perodic raising of road level periodically by various agencies, the sewer manholes get concealed under the roads. Further, due to lack of co-ordination among the concerned agencies during execution of road works, the water supply pipelines and sewer manholes get damaged," said works department chief engineer (roads) O.P. Patel.

He said that keeping this in view, the state government had decided to come up with the standard operating procedure for manhole construction. "We have also decided to include a standard clause in all the road construction tenders in line with the standard operating procedure for all the agencies dealing with road construction," said Patel.