KARACHI, Dec 26: Manholes covered with high lids and speed-breakers along the newly-built major thoroughfares and link roads have been exposing motorists and pedestrians to accidents, besides hindering flow of vehicular traffic. Manholes without covers are a serious threat to life as they become booby-traps at night wherever streetlights are either absent or switched off.

Apart from a large number of not easily visible manholes in different parts of the city, those looking like rocks placed in the middle of roads with a height of around one foot or even bigger are a permanent nuisance. These above the ground manholes may be seen along the main University Road and Shahrah-i-Pakistan, as well the arteries leading to them.

It is an undeniable fact that any structure raised on a thoroughfare is bound to cause a heavy jerk to any vehicle passing above it even if it does not have a height of half a foot. While bigger vehicles may survive these jerks, a motorcycle hitting any of them is most likely to lose its balance. The result can well be realised.

While travelling on the main University Road, one may encounter several elevated and uncovered manholes along its section between the New Town intersection and the Edhi Welfare Centre point. This section of the busy thoroughfare is currently a dual carriage-way for the traffic. These dangerous manholes exist both in the middle of the road and along its side lane.

Extreme care has to be taken by road users to avoid an accident and it is often observed that vehicle move in a zigzag manner even at a high speed creating more accident risks.

Elevated manholes have also been built next to the recently carved out U-turns near Masjid Baitul Mukkarram near Hassan Square on the University Road. A one-foot-high manhole has recently been raised near Aziz Bhatti Park on the same road and this one appeared to be the most dangerous death trap for pedestrians because it has been without a cover since long and remains invisible after sunset in the absence of streetlights. Surprisingly, a two-foot-high and about five-foot-wide water/sewage chamber exists right in the extreme left of the road running parallel to it. The manholes and sewage channel pose a serious threat to motorists and pedestrians alike.

More elevated and uncovered manholes exist along the Water Pump-Aisha Manzil section of Shahrah-i-Pakistan and in the Bangalore Town area off Tipu Sultan Road.

Only last week, a child fell into an open manhole near a Sheermal shop in Block 14, F B Area. People had to rush to his rescue.

To add to the woes of commuters, a number of speed-breakers have sprung up in different parts of the city. It appeared that the speed-breakers, most of them having a height much above the standard size, have been raised during or immediately after carpeting of roads. Considered by most motorists as “vehicle-breakers”, the ramps happened to be invisible to motorists as they have been left without florescent paint having been applied on them.

Motorists using Sehba Akhtar Road, Landi Kotal locality in Federal B Area, Mohammad Ali Society and Tipu Sultan Road may already have experienced hazardous driving due to the existence of such speed-breakers.