Man dies after falling into unmarked culvert pit

BALURGHAT: An accident occurred late Tuesday night in the Amritpur area of Kumarganj block, South Dinajpur, due to an under-construction culvert. Sushil Das (56), a resident of Madhabpur village under Batun Panchayat, died after falling into an open culvert pit while returning home on his bicycle from a relative’s funeral in Damodarpur.

The culvert was being constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana project, supervised by the SRDA department of the Zilla Parishad. Locals allege that no warning signs, barricades or lights were placed near the construction site on this important village road, making it nearly invisible at night.

Sushil Das fell into the pit around midnight and his body was discovered by locals around 9 am on Wednesday. His death sparked widespread anger in the area. Agitated villagers and family members blamed the contractor for negligence and refused to allow the body to be recovered until he arrived at the scene. Police from Kumarganj Station faced resistance while attempting to recover the body. Later, as tensions eased, they managed to remove it.

IC Ramprasad Chakladar confirmed the absence of safety barricades and promised fencing on both sides of the culvert by nightfall. “The area remains tense,” he added.