‘Open manhole' issue should not be viewed through ‘political lens': Karachi mayor

• Karachi mayor says funds issued to union councils. 
• "Contractors who fail to deliver will be blacklisted."
• Wahab says in touch with family of child who died.
  

Amid mounting criticism over rising manhole deaths in the metropolis, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab on Tuesday said that the issue of “open manholes” should not be viewed through a “political lens”.  

Open manholes have claimed the lives of over two dozen people, mostly children, this year, as the city government falls short in its efforts to cover all the manholes in the metropolis.

The Karachi mayor made the remarks a day after an eight-year-old boy died after falling into an open sewer in Korangi's Mehran Town.

Speaking to journalists at the Kidney Hill Park, Wahab, who is also a senior PPP leader, said: “If someone has removed a gutter’s cover and placed it on the side, this issue should not be politicised.”

The mayor said he is in touch with the family of the child who died yesterday. 

An eight-year-old boy, Dilbar, died after falling into an open sewer in Korangi's Mehran Town on Monday. 

Citing the initial investigation report, he said that the cover was removed and placed on the side.  The mayor said that Rs100,000 were issued to the UC concerned on December 9-10.  

Without naming PTI‘s Alamgir Khan, the mayor said that a person from a certain party went to II Chundrigar a few days back and announced that his team had installed all the missing covers.

Yesterday, another person made a video saying that the manhole covers went missing, he added.

Shifting the blame onto UC chairmen, the mayor said: “North Nazimabad UC’s ‘sahib’ did not leave his charge and went to Lahore. I don’t know who signs in his place.”

He maintained that they would hire contractors who perform, warning that those who fail to deliver will be blacklisted.

“It is not possible that KMC is being blackmailed,” the mayor said, adding that work on several projects will be visible next year.