Courtesy: The News.
The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is turning a blind eye to dozens of lidless manholes posing threat to residents that may lead to fatal incident.
The CDA, being a rich development body is apathetic to civic issues and spends maximum share of its development budget for the beautification of posh sectors housing the elite class.
The authority is unable to expand infrastructure in accordance with expansion of city and population that is why it violates the master plan to find easy solutions to these issues. Different markets including Blue Area, the commercial hub of the capital, markets and residential areas of sectors G-8, G-9, G- 10, I-9 and I-10 are suffering utmost difficulties due to open manholes posing threat to human life.
To some extent, the residents are also responsible in this regard, who start using lidless manholes as dustbins blocking sewerage system that sometime also damages telephone and power cables passing through the manholes.
The open manholes also damage vehicles falling into them and the owner has no other option but to censure the city fathers.Open manholes could be seen covered by twigs and tree branches in G-10 Markaz and Karachi Company area to warn the unwary passers-by.
The civic body has not even bothered to put any signboard near to the lidless manhole situated well-nigh in the middle of the roads with foul smelling sewage testing the nerves of the passer-bys.
The open manholes not only pose threats to motorists but also pedestrians who sometimes receive injuries when they fall into it. Criticizing the role of the authority, Jahanzeb Khan, a schoolteacher said sectors G and I were the most neglected areas where the issues of broken sewerage pipelines and open manholes remain unresolved since long.
Despite repeated assurances by the CDA high ups, no major allocation has been made in the budget for fiscal year 2008-09 to resolve civic issues. Hameed Iqbal, a resident of Sector I-10, said that a deluge of requests had been made to the directorate concerned for covering the open manholes in the area but so far no action was taken in this regard. When contacted, the CDA spokesperson said the authority receives complaints on daily basis, adding that a comprehensive plan is shortly being launched to ensure the coverage of all lidless manholes across the city.
