LUCKNOW, Aug. 15 -- Drain walls not high enough and damaged parapets on key roads in Lucknow expose commuters to serious risk, with several stretches offering little protection against vehicles falling into open drains. The concern came into sharp focus soon on Thursday, when a car crashed through a parapet wall and plunged into a deep drain near Vishwakarma Temple in Raja Bijli Pasi Fort area. Three people, including a 72-year-old man, a woman and a child, remained trapped inside vehicle after accident, prompting a rescue operation by Lucknow Municipal Corporation. An HT inspection of several stretches of the state capital on Friday found that at multiple locations, drain walls either remain too low, have broken sections or have lost their protective height after road construction. In Vibhuti Khand, near the GST office, a medium-sized drain runs through the middle of the road. The newly constructed road has brought carriageway almost level with the drain parapet, leaving the wall only around an inch above the road surface. The reduced height has effectively weakened barrier between moving traffic and open drain. The stretch sees regular movement of vehicles, increasing risk if a motorist loses control or a vehicle swerves towards drain. A similar situation exists on the road from Shaheed Path underpass towards Kathauta crossing. A few metres before crossing, drain wall running through middle of road is broken at several points. Bricks have separated from the structure, leaving gaps and weakened portions along the parapet. The damaged wall provides limited protection to vehicles travelling close to drain. LMC chief engineer Mahesh Verma said LMC was covering drains located in road medians wherever funds were available, but financial constraints had prevented it from covering all such drains. "The minimum height of a drain wall is around one foot, and generally walls are constructed above this height for protection," Verma said. He added that LMC had included drain-covering work in CM Grid projects at several locations. The medium-sized drain near the GST office in Vibhuti Khand is among the stretches proposed for covering. According to the civic body, covering the drains will not only improve road safety but also prevent waste from entering them....