RAHIM YAR KHAN: A seven-year-old child died after falling into a six-foot wide main sewere line in Basti Pir Shaheedan, near Mao Mubarak Road, here on Friday.

Asif said his son Muhammad Husnain was playing outside when he fell into the manhole as most of the manholes in the area are uncovered. He said a nearby shopkeeper had covered the manhole with a hard paper sheet to contain the smell of sewage.

Husnain accidentally stepped on the paper sheet and fell into the manhole. The sewer line is connected to the main sewerage treatment plant near Madina Colony.

Rescue 1122 retrieved Husnain in a critical condition from the next manhole but he was received dead at Shaikh Zayed Medical College Hospital.

The shopkeeper told reporters he had submitted many applications to the municipal corporation (MC) and some politicians for the protective covers of sewerage holes but to no avail.

He alleged that Hasnain died due to the negligence of the MC employees.MC Chief Officer Azmat Qadeer Goraya said work on manhole covers and repair was in progress and 160 manholes would be covered alone in Pir Shaheedan locality. He claimed that the cover of the deadly manhole had recently been repaired where the incident occurred.

Deputy Commissioner Khuram Shehzad was not available for comment.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2021