Deaths, directly linked with the hazardous condition of Karachi, are neither new nor rare

EVERY day we come across roads that are dug up repeatedly across Karachi for laying gas, sewerage, or water pipelines. Frustrated and anxious, people struggle and even jeopardise their lives just to reach their destinations. Excavating the roads and leaving uneven surfaces, potholes and broken roads is an irksome routine, which often becomes a matter of life and death. Karachi witnesses heart-breaking incidents every now and then that are linked directly to such negligence. People fall into open manholes or meet accidents due to potholes and broken roads. These are not just accidents, but death traps laid by the negligence of civic authorities.

A city that is the economic backbone of Pakistan receives such dreadful treatment that citizens have lost all hope in the authorities, and they assist each other. When a young boy had fallen into a manhole recently, his body was recovered by a teenager, more than 12 hours after the incident was first reported.

This speaks a lot about how not a single responsible department is held account-able. Karachi’s worries are no longer taken seriously because they have sadly become common occurrences. Deaths, directly linked with the hazardous condition of Karachi, are neither new nor rare. The citizens of Karachi have suffered enough, and they deserve better.