After civic fatalities, CM orders PWD to fix manholes, roads before Durga Puja

Guwahati, Sep 10: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has directed the Public Works Department (PWD) to prioritise closing of manholes, repairing all footpaths and roads in Guwahati city and other districts ahead of the ensuing Durga Puja.

The Chief Minister, who chaired a meeting with PWD officials on Tuesday night, asked the department to prepare a standard operating procedure (SoP) to ensure that after removing garbage during the drain cleaning exercise, workers cover manholes properly.

Sarma said that the department must treat this work with utmost importance.

The Chief Minister also directed the Department to make the under-construction flyover stretch from Noonmati to Dighalipukhuri convenient for the public before the Durga Puja festival.

He also directed PWD officials to immediately repair key roads in Guwahati, as well as in Cachar and Sribhumi districts, before the festival.

The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary to the CM, K K Dwivedi, GMC Commissioner M S Lakshmipriya, PWD Commissioner and Special Secretary Paban Terang, Special Secretary Bibhuti Saikia, Chief Engineer (Roads) Sanjib Shyam, and other senior officials.

The directive comes amid growing public concern over civic infrastructure, particularly open manholes and battered roads that have posed serious hazards in recent months.

On September 3, a three-year-old child slipped into an open drain near Vivekananda School in Kalapahar, close to the under-construction Cycle Factory flyover, and died.

The tragedy sparked outrage among residents, who have long flagged civic apathy, especially around construction sites across the city.

In recent months, at least two people have died and five others have been injured at flyover construction sites, including the Maharaj Prithu and Cycle Factory projects.

With inputs from PTI