On 18/4/1999, Sarita, a lecturer at New Senior Secondary School in Ludhiana, Punjab, fell into an uncapped drainage manhole while walking near a canal bridge.

According to court records, the manhole was located on a public road but was nearly imperceptible as grass and leaves obscured its pipe and opening.

Her body was found more than 69 hours later, on 21/4. An autopsy determined she died from drowning.

Her family filed a lawsuit, alleging that her death resulted from the negligence of the agencies responsible for maintaining the drainage system and public roads.

Sarita's husband, son, and daughter requested the court compel the authorities to implement measures to prevent similar accidents.

**Authorities: victim may have been careless**

The lawsuit was heard 11 years after the incident. While state agencies acknowledged the event, debate arose over responsibility.

The Punjab government stated it had instructed local agencies to inspect manholes within their jurisdiction, replace damaged or missing covers, and conduct regular checks to ensure safety.

Conversely, the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board argued that Ludhiana's drainage system, built and operational since 1993, had subsequently been handed over to the city government.

Therefore, according to the board's argument, maintenance was the local government's responsibility, not the system's builder.

The authorities also suggested the victim might have been careless while walking on the road. However, the court rejected this argument.

The judge ruled that an open manhole on a public road, unprotected, inherently poses a serious risk. The authorities must account for the possibility that pedestrians might not notice the opening, especially when obscured by grass and leaves, when fulfilling their maintenance duties.

A manhole cover is not merely a matter of maintenance. In its ruling, the court did not view the upkeep of public infrastructure as a purely administrative task.

Citing Punjab state regulations on the functions of urban governments, which include roads, bridges, public sanitation, and urban utilities, the judge determined that maintaining drainage systems and public roads is a legal obligation of the managing authority.

In other words, when a local government has the right to build, manage, or operate a system serving the community, that right comes with the duty to maintain it in a safe condition.

The court found that if an open manhole leads to a death, it is a direct consequence of inadequate maintenance. The court also dismissed the argument of negligence on the part of the deceased.

The court referenced several previous precedents regarding the responsibility of urban authorities when roads, lighting systems, or public works are not maintained safely.

In one cited case, the Punjab & Haryana court had previously established the responsibility of a municipal authority after a child died from falling into an open manhole. The court then stated that the government's duty to provide public utilities also entailed the duty to ensure they were properly maintained.

The judge cited precedents to affirm that compensation can be a remedy for damages arising from public authorities' failure to fulfill their obligations.

Sarita died at 54 years old, earning approximately 3,470 rupees per month. After calculating personal expenses and contributions to her family, the court determined the total compensation amount to be 350,000 rupees, plus 9% interest from the date of the accident until payment.

Another notable part of the ruling concerned what happened after Sarita's death.

**Considering criminalizing official responsibility**

During the lawsuit, the authorities stated that missing manhole covers had been replaced and numerous directives issued, requiring local agencies to inspect and maintain drainage systems.

However, according to press reports cited by the court, the problem persisted.

The ruling quoted information indicating that in the year preceding the trial alone, six people died from falling into manholes in Ludhiana. In those incidents, the city government was accused of not accepting responsibility.

Another article mentioned the death of a 7-year-old child from falling into a manhole, demonstrating that previous measures had not thoroughly addressed the risk.

This detail elevated the lawsuit beyond a mere compensation claim for one family.

The question arose whether merely issuing documents instructing subordinates to inspect and repair was sufficient for the authorities to fulfill their duties, if dangerous manholes continued to exist and cause casualties in reality.

The court, therefore, raised the issue of criminal liability. The ruling went beyond the story of compensation.

The judge argued that if deaths due to uncovered manholes become a recurring problem, simply sending reminder letters to subordinate agencies would not be enough to resolve it.

The court mentioned the possibility of considering criminal responsibility for the negligence of local officials in future incidents.

According to the trial panel, the police should not merely file reports and allow investigations to stall. In the event of an accident, it is necessary to identify which agency or individual was responsible for ensuring safety, whether they knew or should have known about the risk, and whether they took necessary measures to prevent the outcome.

However, in Sarita's case, the court did not accept the family's request for prosecution on charges of manslaughter.

The reason stated in the ruling was that the incident occurred more than 11 years before the court resolved the case. Under those circumstances, the court deemed compensation to be the appropriate remedy.

Sarita's case originated in 1999, but the ruling was issued in 2011, indicating a resolution process that spanned over a decade.

However, according to the court, the significance of the case will be an evergreen story: streets, drainage systems, and public works are created to serve the people; therefore, the managing authority not only has the right to manage but also the duty to maintain them in a safe condition.

A missing manhole cover might initially appear to be a minor infrastructure defect. But when it exists on a route people use every day, the risk it poses can become a matter of life safety.

Most recently, in 11/2025, in Karachi, Pakistan, a three-year-old boy also slipped and fell into an uncovered manhole near a department store. He was found after 15 hours of rescue efforts and had died.

In that year alone, 23 local citizens died in open sewers. Local residents filed a collective petition to the court requesting criminal prosecution.

The petition indicated that rescue operations were delayed, forcing residents to rent heavy machinery themselves. They demanded that murder charges be filed against city officials and a senior police officer be appointed to oversee the investigation.

Hai Thu (According to CaseMine, The Express Tribune)