A seven-year-old boy has died after falling into an open manhole in Lahore’s Hanjarwal area, raising fresh questions over the Punjab government’s failure to ensure basic public safety.
Rescue officials stated the child fell into the manhole due to poor lighting in the street. Local residents claimed that Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) workers had removed manhole covers for cleaning and left them open.
WASA officials, even so, rejected the claim and said the area does not fall under WASA Lahore’s jurisdiction. They said local residents had hired private workers for the work. This person allegedly left the manhole uncovered before leaving.
The incident is particularly concerning because Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had ordered the installation of safety nets beneath manhole covers throughout the province in May to prevent such accidents. The polyester-strip nets were meant to provide a secondary safety barrier inside manholes, gutters and drainage systems.
A pilot project was launched in Gujranwala, where safety nets were planned for 30,000 manholes. The Punjab government has since produced safety mesh mandatory for sewage manholes, with the provincial authority directing that a secondary mesh capable of bearing up to 300 kilograms be installed beneath covers.
The Lahore tragedy raises serious questions about how effectively these directives are being implemented on the ground. A policy designed to prevent children from falling into open manholes means little if uncovered manholes can still remain accessible in residential streets.
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