3 days ago
Man complains about broken drain cover, receives threat
Vadodara: What would happen if a citizen complained about a damaged storm drain cover that was posing a hazard on a road? The complaint would either be ignored, attended to or possibly attended to after a delay.
In Vadodara, a man received a threat over the phone for raising the issue.
Hitesh Sangathiya, a resident of Karelibaug, almost fell into a storm drain on Thursday morning as the drain cover was damaged. A barricade near the drain had also been moved. Sangathiya positioned the barricade properly and complained about the damaged cover to a Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) official over WhatsApp, sending a photograph of the broken cover.
Sangathiya also mentioned the name of the contractor concerned and wrote that he was going to file a formal complaint. In an hour, he got a WhatsApp call from an unknown number. The caller threatened Sangathiya with dire consequences after trying to persuade him to drop the matter.
Sangathiya said he had complained about the contractor earlier as well. "The same cover was damaged earlier and I had complained about it.
I commute by this road and see the situation regularly," he said. Sangathiya alleged that the caller was an aide of the contractor. He said the contractor had been fined recently for damaged roads.
Sangathiya said while he was planning to complain only about the shoddy work earlier, he had to go to the police as he was threatened. "Calling over WhatsApp makes it evident that the person did not want the call to be recorded as he was going to threaten me," he said. An official at Karelibaug police station said that they were looking into the complaint.
