OVER the past few years, the issue of open manholes in Karachi has been increasingly getting worse.

Karachiites are facing a severe problem; these open manholes serve as death traps.

Many people have lost their children to these manholes, but the Sindh government pays little attention to this issue.

Recently, Karachi’s Alamgir Khan initiated ‘FixIt’ — a public campaign to notify and bring to the attention of the government this problem. The government took some initial steps to resolve the issue but over time has lost interest once again.

Sadly, the same issues have re-emerged and continue unabated.

On May 12, a boy fell into a manhole and after some days was found dead.

There are many manholes in Karachi’s suburban areas, such as Orangi, Malir, Khokarapar, Korangi, Landhi and New Karachi.

One can even see a number of them on various major roads of the city, including New M.A. Jinnah Road, near Islamia Science College, main University Road and Rashid Minhas Road.

It should be the government’s priority to resolve this public-safety issue, or else many persons may stand to lose their lives.

M.A. Shahid
Karachi

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2016