The tragic death of two brothers who drowned in one such sewerage drain last week in Arambagh pushed the matter into the spotlight.

The heavy downpour triggered a strong flow of water around the openings into the culverts, threatening people's lives.

Although many were crippled or injured falling into the uncovered holes in the past, no action has been taken.

The covers of three box culverts in Arambagh, Green Road and Paribagh are lying open at 20 points putting the public life at risk. The holes, which are about eight to 10 feet deep, are large enough for a person to fall to their death or injury.

Besides, the waste that is collected from these culverts is piled up along the roads polluting surroundings with bad odour.

A cleaner on Green Road said the waste is cleared once in four days, but residents say the waste is hardly removed.

Wasa officials said they undertook the project to clean three culverts at a cost of Tk 2 crore, with 80 percent of the budget coming from a special allocation by the government and the rest of their own.

The culverts on the 1km Bijoynagar-Motijheel was opened at six points along the drain, at nine points at the Green Road-Russell Square intersection and at five points in Paribagh. These have been lying open for over a month.

"The slabs are heavy. It is not convenient to open and close them every day," said ANH Akhter Hossain, the managing director of Wasa. But residents allege the authorities have not taken precautionary measures to identify these dangerous holes.

"Only one or two bamboo poles with no indication of danger at most points are not sufficient to make people aware of such traps," said a resident of Arambagh, adding: "It becomes dangerous as the holes cannot be spotted in the dark and many people get injured."

"We have decided to indicate such points as warning to pedestrians. If the decision is not carried out, we will take action against the staff responsible," said HDM Quamrul Alam Chowdhury, Wasa's superintendent engineer.

Apart from the removal of concrete slabs, most metal covers have been stolen as police and Wasa officials seem unconcerned about the matter.

City residents blamed accidents on the neglect of Wasa authorities, alleging these covers for these holes are not replaced in time.

Unofficial sources say the number of open manholes in the city is about 400.