Three riders fall into pit left open by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, grievously injured

AHMEDABAD: Three young citizens riding a scooter on Wednesday noon had no idea what awaited them on Rakhial road in Gomtipur. Just as they reached Gulshan bakery, they plunged into a 13-foot-deep pit. Locals rushed the grievously injured riders — Moin Shah, 17, Imran Ansari, 19, and Hamza Khokhar — to the Civil Hospital.

The pit was left open by the contractors who had not bothered to properly barricade the work area.

According to locals, the civic work was on for the last 20 days.
“The drainage line in Gomtipur was being repaired and as per the contract conditions, the contractor was to secure the work area. One of our assistant engineers had visited the site after the accident,” said a senior Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) official.
Civic officials said that a detailed investigation will be required to find out what led to the incident.
“There is a 25-year-old drainage supply line that passes beneath the road. This entire stretch had to be repaired twice earlier because of corrosion,” said the senior AMC official in the engineering department.
Two of the injured teenagers were referred to the neurology department and the third, to the orthopaedic department.
Moin received injuries on his face and near his eyes; Imran had injured his arm while Hamza received head injuries.
Locals immediately called the fire brigade team and the EMRI-108 and pulled the boys out of the pit. Gomtipur councillor Iqbal Sheikh has demanded compensation for the teenagers.
“This is not the first time that lack of inspection by the AMC and the contractors has endangered the lives of citizens. Unless victims are paid compensation for failures like compromising safety provisions, such incidents will continue to occur. The families of the victims have already demanded accountability from the AMC,” said Sheikh.