"200 manhole covers has been stolen in the last two months in the Multan district," says WASA official.
A cash reward of Rs50,000 has been announced for any citizen who aids the arrest of a person who steals a manhole cover. The prize will be awarded by the Multan Water and Sanitation Authority (WASA) managing director.
A WASA official speaking on condition of anonymity told The Express Tribune that over 200 manhole covers had been stolen in the last two months in the Multan district.
He said that WASA had launched an operation in colloboration with Multan police. He said the initial investigation had revealed at least three gangs were involved in the theft. He said some of the suspects have been arrested but the investigations were being kept confidential.
He said parts of the manhole covers were being sold in Friday and Sunday markets.
Multan WASA MD Muhammad Tayyab Chaudary has constituted a committee under the supervision of Deputy Director Muhammad Abdul Ghafoor to lead the operation.
Citizens have been asked to get in touch with Ghafoor if they have any leads with a promise to protect their identity. WASA announced that no citizen was allowed to open sewerage caps without obtaining permission from WASA. It said that anyone found touching a manhole cap without permission would be arrested.
Chaudhry said he hoped that with the cooperation of citizens the disappearance of the caps of the gutters would be stopped.
A Rescue 1122 official said over 20 people were injured during the last month due to missing manhole covers.
A number of complaints had been lodged with WASA over the issue.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2013.
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In the early 70s iron gully covers of Lahore use to vanish in the night. From the apprehended thieves it came to light that they were melted in Ittefaq foundries!
They had a similar problem in Mumbai in the 1990's. They solved the problem by replacing metal man-hole covers with concrete ones. Concrete ones are heavier and do not carry any value.