Shanu Miah, a middle-aged man, fell to death in an open box culvert in the Paltan area this week. The High Court has summoned the managing director of Dhaka Wasa and the chief executive officer of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) to explain why they should not be held responsible for leaving the manhole unprotected.

These uncovered manholes are a serious threat and have previously been the reason behind many such preventable deaths. The highly publicised cases of three-year-old Jihad who died after falling into a 600-foot deep shaft in 2014 and of four-year-old Nirob who met a similar fate exactly a year later apparently did nothing to prompt concerned authorities into action.

The MD of Wasa squarely denied responsibility for the death of Shanu Miah since the manhole was reportedly being used for cleaning sewer drains, a task carried out by private contractors. But the superintending engineer for drainage of Wasa admitted that the organisation, along with private contractors, is partly responsible for ensuring public safety. The contradictory statements of the two officials do little to restore public confidence in Wasa which has often resorted to blame game every time one of these open culverts results in someone's death.

The comments made by Wasa authorities are dissatisfactory to say the least. Outsourcing jobs to private contractors does not mean that Wasa is exempt from supervising and ensuring public safety during the proceedings of projects that fall under its purview. It is high time that Wasa prioritises safety before anything else and instates strict measures to get rid of this public nuisance.