A man died on Tuesday after falling into a manhole on one of the busiest roads of the city.
Shortly after the incident and a protest that followed, the Water and Sanitation Agency managing director ordered officials to cover all such holes in the city.
Police said the man was walking in front of Kohe Noor Plaza in Jaranwala Road when he slipped into a manhole. Some passers-by rushed to help him, but failed to pull him out. Professional help was called and he was pulled out. He died on the way to a hospital.
Residents of the areas then staged a protest demonstration against Wasa officials saying it did not replace promptly the lids that were broken or stolen. The protesters demanded that all open manholes in the city be covered immediately and lids be secured to avoid theft.
They said there had been several incidents where pedestrians were injured in similar incidents. They said there had also been some incident of children falling into manholes. They said residents of Islam Nagar, Civil Lines, Madina Town, Amin Town, Allama Iqbal Colony, Saifabad, Lakkar Mandi, Liaqatabad and Afghanabad had complained about open manholes in their areas but no one from Wasa had visited the sites.
Ghulam Rasool of Allama Iqbal Colony told The Express Tribune that five children had injured their legs by falling into uncovered gutters in his neighbourhood in the last one month. They had all fractured their legs.
Muhammad Shafiq, a resident of Islam Nagar, said there were four open gutters on the road he lived. He said residents of the area had been informing Wasa officials about it for five months without any luck. Wasa Managing Director Syed Zahid Aziz said he had ordered an inquiry against officials responsible for Jaranwala Road. He said he would act against officials responsible for the maintenance of gutters in the area, if the man had died due to an open manhole.
He said it was usual for drug addicts to steal gutter lids and sell them. He said residents had been asked to inform Wasa about addicts loitering in the area so that they can be handed over to the police.
He said he had also ordered officials to ensure that all gutters in the city were covered.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 4th, 2013.