In an unusual expression of their sense of anger, residents of the Fort Area in Koppal forced a municipal engineer to step into a trench filled with slush to experience the plight of the people.
The trench was dug as part of laying a pipeline for the underground drainage system. With the city experiencing heavy rain recently, the soil along the trench had become slushy and slippery. Added to that, a drinking water pipeline, which got damaged while digging the trench with an earth mover, had remained unattended.
The trench got filled with water when the valveman opened the valves to supply drinking water.
The unattended trench had become dangerous for road users, who fall into it unaware of the fact that they were not filled with mud. A couple of bike riders, including a couple of senior citizens, also sustained injuries after falling into it.
Enraged over the series of accidents that occurred on Monday, mainly due to the negligence of the officials, the residents staged a protest demonstration near the Clock Tower. They also demanded that the officials visit the spot. When Venkataramana, Municipal Engineer, came to the spot, people gathered there heckled him and forced him to get down in the trench to have a first-hand experience of the plight of the people.
The protest was withdrawn after City Municipal Council president Mahendra Chopra and senior officials, promised to get the work completed fast besides taking up proper repair of roads.
