Following the death of 24-year-old M. Sarala recently in T. Nagar, the Chennai Corporation on Monday took steps to place barricades around 253 pits dug for stormwater drain work (SWD) .
Sources in the civic body said that 426 flex boards were printed and fixed all over the city. The flex boards cautioned that trenches had been dug for SWD work and warned residents not to come near them. In the newly merged areas where SWD work is under way, similar barricades and flex boards would be placed from Tuesday, the sources said.
Residents, however, said that barricades should have been placed immediately after the pits were dug and not after an unsuspecting pedestrian fell into one of them and died. Congress leader Saidai P. Ravi said that as per contract, precautionary measures should be taken when such trenches are dug. “The officials did not ensure that contractors had implemented the clause properly. Both the officials and contractors must share the blame. At least in future they must ensure that warning boards are placed in all works in public places,” he said. E.Sridharan, a resident of Motilal Street, T. Nagar, said that the delay in the work was causing hardship to residents. “They have entrusted the work to inexperienced contractors which is delaying the work. Nor have they covered SWD properly in places where the work is complete,” he said.
Hema Narayanaswamy, a resident of Thiruvanmiyur, said that one SWD pit had remained open in Sriram Nagar for quite some time now and residents had placed a coconut frond inside the pit to warn road users.
