Open manholes endanger locals

Inefficiency of the district government in repairing sewer lids has led to multiple fall incidents

PESHAWAR:

With Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) still battling an endemic overcrowding of roads due to vehicles, the little space that is left for pedestrians to move around is dominated by open manholes.

Despite the K-P government making tall claims of exemplary development in every sector including education, health and infrastructure, the on-ground facts turn out to be conspicuously different, with much of the road network in the provincial capital plagued by the existence of deadly open manholes, which are a testament to the efficiency of the district administration, local bodies and the provincial government.

For instance, one such open hole seriously injured 33-year-old Adil, a resident of Ittihad Town, Peshawar, who whilst riding his motorcycle fell into the lidless sewer in the Sukhira Ram area. “As a result of the fall, I injured my leg and was bedridden for two weeks,” shared Adil.

Where the open manholes have injured adults, they have not spared children either. As per reports obtained by The Express Tribune, three children have also been wounded due to the opening of four manholes at the same place where Adil was injured. However, despite repeated reminders to the administration by the locals, the manholes could not be covered.

“The lives of the people of Peshawar have become miserable due to the missing manholes. The growing number of drug addicts steal the iron manholes before selling them to dealers. Even though, we built two manholes with cement ourselves by collecting donations. now every other day a manhole goes missing due to the activities of addicts. No one is ready to take responsibility for this work despite us repeatedly asking the Town One administration,” railed Malik Ayaz, a local.

In addition to the open manholes threatening locals in Malik’s area, several manholes across Peshawar continue to remain uncovered, including an open manhole in the Chamkni area, which has been temporarily covered by locals using stones, and four manholes in the Bilal Town area of the inner city, which were damaged as a result of the constant passage of heavy vehicles. Moreover, sources further claim that more than a hundred manholes remain damaged across 357 Union Councils of Peshawar however, surprisingly, none of the departments including WSSP, PDA, TMEs or the Irrigation Department have taken up the responsibility of repairing the sewer lids.

“Iron manhole lids were installed at the level of each Union Council level by WSSP within the Walled City of Peshawar in the past and funds had also been allocated for their repair work but now the WSSP does not even have funds for paying off salaries. How can they be expected to repair the manholes?” questioned an officer of the Local Government Department, on the condition of anonymity.

“The local representatives are not getting money for even their office rent. Streetlights and water pipes are being installed with the help of donations. Such a situation has never been seen before in Peshawar. We have repeatedly complained to the Water and Sanitation Services in this regard, but in the end we had to do the work on our own,” revealed Shah Saud, a district member in Peshawar.

When contacted by The Express Tribune, the spokesperson for the Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar, Hasan Khan said, “We have no shortage of funds. Iron covers were made for manholes in the city earlier but now they are replaced by slap manholes. In case, a manhole is broken at any place on a highway, concrete manholes are installed in their place.”