In full swing: 42 manholes covered in Karachi's 'sleeping beauty' campaign

PTI activist provided covers to the city's manholes in a bid to shame the misgovernance in Sindh

After days of campaigning against Sindh, the man behind Karachi's "Sleeping Beauty" campaign claims to have covered 42 manholes in the city.

Alamgir Khan, a member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), began the campaign on January 4, against the inability of authorities to cover the metropolis’s manholes that were left open for too long.

Having also faced the wrath of the concerned authorities – who as claimed by Alamgir called his father to tell him that his car had been registered in a hit-and-run case – the young man kept on working on his campaign.

The manholes' covers arranged by Alamgir Khan. PHOTO: FACEBOOK

However, he himself took the initiative of providing covers to the city’s manholes after being supported immensely by the citizens on social media who praised Almagir’s passion.



“Thanks to Allah. We fixed 42 caps of manholes at Main University Road, Karachi. It took 6 hours (3pm-9pm) for this operation. It cost just Rs.13000. This is just the beginning ‪#‎fixit ‪#‎karachi," he posted on his Facebook account on Saturday.

Hundreds of his followers then lauded him and his initiative and pledged their support to his cause.

“I think if we are not participating, we can at least contribute in the cost. Whether it's Rs 100, 500, 1000 or any amount as per our financial strength. Alamgir Khan kindly share your account number, so that willing people can contribute,” wrote one of the many followers.



Speaking about the campaign, Alamgir said he thought of another way of addressing the city's issue since protests were tiresome and never achieved the end goal in mind.

“Ideas are bulletproof,” he said. “You can put obstacles for a person but ideas can never hinder.” Without burning tyres or blocking roads, Khan had embarked on a journey to shame the chief minister into addressing basic problems faced by Karachi residents.

Alamgir and a group of young men carried stencils around various neighbourhoods in District East and painted the CM’s face on places that need the government’s attention. The stencils could be seen at University Road, Old Sabzi Mandi, Karsaz Road and Nipa flyover.

“Protests are always painful and cause inconvenience to ordinary residents so I decided to take a lighter but effective approach so that more people can join my campaign,” said Alamgir, a resident of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 7 who is pursuing an MBA from Iqra University. He called it a silent protest that is not harming people but merely giving them a platform to address their problems.