Rallying call: A life down the drain
Family hold TMA responsible for four-year-old boy’s death.
DASKA:
The family of four-year-old Abdullah staged a demonstration by placing his body in the middle of the road in village Mitraanwali-Daska in protest against Daska tehsil municipal administration (TMA) officials.
According to locals in the area, dozens of people were spotted carrying banners and placards bearing slogans against the TMA and the protesters chanted slogans demanding immediate legal action against Daska TMA officials.
The protesters said Abdullah died on Thursday, after he slipped and fell into an uncapped sewer in front of his house in Mitraanwali. “We had asked the TMA repeatedly to cover up the sewer as the smell was becoming unbearable but they didn’t do anything. Now my son is dead,” said trader Muhammad Amir.
Abdullah’s family protested for hours until police officials eventually convinced them to disperse.
The child was laid to rest in his native graveyard on Friday evening in the presence of hundreds of mourners. Protesting villagers said that all sewers and open manholes in the area needed to be sealed.
“There are dozens of open sewers and no one takes any notice until someone dies,” Amir said. He said that several people had appealed to the TMA about the issue. “We have asked them to seal them off dozens of times but they never bother. Now they have apologized and sealed it off in a day. It took my son’s death for them to notice and I hold them responsible,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 30th, 2011.
The family of four-year-old Abdullah staged a demonstration by placing his body in the middle of the road in village Mitraanwali-Daska in protest against Daska tehsil municipal administration (TMA) officials.
According to locals in the area, dozens of people were spotted carrying banners and placards bearing slogans against the TMA and the protesters chanted slogans demanding immediate legal action against Daska TMA officials.
The protesters said Abdullah died on Thursday, after he slipped and fell into an uncapped sewer in front of his house in Mitraanwali. “We had asked the TMA repeatedly to cover up the sewer as the smell was becoming unbearable but they didn’t do anything. Now my son is dead,” said trader Muhammad Amir.
Abdullah’s family protested for hours until police officials eventually convinced them to disperse.
The child was laid to rest in his native graveyard on Friday evening in the presence of hundreds of mourners. Protesting villagers said that all sewers and open manholes in the area needed to be sealed.
“There are dozens of open sewers and no one takes any notice until someone dies,” Amir said. He said that several people had appealed to the TMA about the issue. “We have asked them to seal them off dozens of times but they never bother. Now they have apologized and sealed it off in a day. It took my son’s death for them to notice and I hold them responsible,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 30th, 2011.