Ghaziabad Safety Audit Uncovers Over 150 Hazardous Locations
In a comprehensive safety assessment conducted over the past five days, Ghaziabad authorities have identified at least 150 open drains, broken culverts, and construction pits across the city that pose serious safety risks. Many of these hazardous sites lack essential safety measures such as barricades, warning signs, or reflective markers, creating dangerous conditions for residents and commuters alike.
Multi-Agency Inspection Teams Map Vulnerable Areas
Joint teams comprising officials from the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation, Ghaziabad Development Authority, Modinagar Municipal Council, Rajapur and Bhojpur development blocks, Public Works Department, Fire Services, and the Housing and Development Council conducted thorough spot checks across residential, industrial, and semi-urban pockets. Their mission was to systematically map all vulnerable locations that could potentially lead to accidents or injuries.
Report Categorizes Sites Based on Severity Factors
The findings were compiled during a meeting of civic agencies with the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Wednesday. The resulting report categorizes the identified sites as both major and minor danger points, with classification based on multiple factors including depth, traffic movement patterns, and proximity to residential areas. This detailed categorization helps prioritize remediation efforts for the most critical hazards.
Specific Hazardous Locations Identified Across City
Several of the identified hazardous sites involve trenches dug for sewer and water pipeline installations in prominent areas such as Indirapuram and Shalimar Garden. These excavations remain dangerously uncovered and lack basic safety features like reflectors or protective barricades. Additionally, open drains with significant drops of 10 to 15 feet were discovered along major stretches in industrial zones, including Loha Mandi, Bulandshahr Road, and the southern side of GT Road.
In Siddharth Vihar, officials raised concerns about an under-development Housing and Development Council plot where an open drain runs alongside roads without any protective barriers. Similar accident-prone spots offering minimal visual warning to motorists or pedestrians were also identified near ponds, sewers, and damaged road dividers throughout the city.
Critical Canal Area Requires Immediate Safety Measures
Officials expressed particular concern about a Muradnagar stretch along the Upper Ganga Canal. "The area around Gangnahar urgently needs reflectors and proper signage to alert commuters about the canal," an official emphasized, adding that protective barriers must be installed where the canal road runs parallel to deep water channels that present significant drowning risks.
Previous Reporting Highlighted Persistent Safety Issues
This safety audit follows earlier reporting that highlighted how several arterial and internal roads in Indirapuram have remained dug up for months, with open drains, loose debris, and inadequate barricading creating conditions that residents describe as accident waiting to happen. Municipal contractors carrying out drainage and other civic works had left trenches exposed and construction material piled along roadsides across residential colonies, commercial hubs, and school zones.
District Magistrate Warns of Potential Higher Numbers
District Magistrate Ravindra Mander indicated that the actual number of hazardous locations is likely higher than the current count, as details from additional departments including the factories department, UP Jal Nigam, Loni and Muradnagar municipal councils, police, and Urban Development Department are still awaited. These agencies have been given three days to submit their comprehensive reports as part of the ongoing safety assessment.
Safety Directive Follows Tragic Accident
The intensified safety inspections were prompted by a directive issued on January 22 following the tragic death of a 27-year-old software engineer whose car plunged into a 30-foot, water-filled construction trench in Noida on December 17. The directive requires all departments to urgently identify accident-prone structures and locations, including:
- Under-construction malls and high-rise buildings
- Incomplete or damaged bridges
- Open pits and exposed sewers
- Water bodies near roadways
- Damaged road dividers
Accountability Emphasized for All Construction Activities
District Magistrate Mander stressed that responsibility for safety cannot be evaded, even when hazards arise from private construction activity. "Wherever construction is underway, it is the duty of the agency concerned to ensure proper barricading and safety measures so that the site does not pose a risk to road users," he stated firmly. He added that any future fatal accident would automatically trigger a comprehensive safety audit, with clear accountability fixed on the responsible agency.
Recent Accidents Prompt Additional Investigations
Meanwhile, the administration has ordered probes into two recent accidents directly linked to open drains. On January 21, an 11-year-old boy fell into an open drain outside his home in Jhundpura Colony in Masuri while playing with friends. The following day, a brother and sister sustained injuries in Modinagar's Govindpuri area after their scooter was hit by an unidentified vehicle, sending them crashing into a bridge wall and subsequently into a drain.
"In Modinagar, immediate steps were taken to install signage and reflectors, and an inquiry has been ordered to determine responsibility," Mander confirmed regarding the recent incidents. The administration's proactive approach aims to prevent similar tragedies while holding responsible parties accountable for maintaining public safety standards.
