Two-year-old falls to death in manhole

A two-year-old child fell to death in an open manhole in front of his house in Model Town. The heirs and local people protested against the municipal committee and administration.

They held the municipal committee responsible for Mujeebur Rehman’s death.

They said that manholes across the city, including Model Town, had been left uncovered for a long time.

Despite repeated reminders, the manholes were not covered. The heirs and protestors shouted slogans against the administration and MC officers.

They demanded legal action against the CEO of the municipal committee, saying it was clearly due to the negligence of the district administration. The parents said that the child had gone out of the house to play and fell into an open manhole in front of the house.

They said that all the manholes in Quraish Colony, Faisal Colony, Khadimabad and Model Town were lying uncovered. In January last year, an eight-year-old schoolboy had died after falling into an open manhole in Thikriwala.

The boy, Sadaqat Ali, had been on his way home from school when the tragedy struck. Dozens of relatives of the deceased protested by setting fire to tires on the main road after the rescue operation was stopped after a few hours without the boy’s body having been recovered.

Police arrived on the spot and negotiated with the protesters. The body was ultimately found at the WASA’s disposal point at night.

Five vehicles of Rescue 1122, including an ambulance, arrived on the spot to search for the child. When the child was not found during the search operation, the rescue team stopped the operation.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 30^th, 2023.