Missing covers pose a significant public safety risk. Pets,
pedestrians, cyclists and motorists are at serious danger by the open catch basins
in F-7 and F-8 sectors at Islamabad this part of season when they prefer to
have nighttime walks with their pets.
“Metal thieves have opened a gaping hole in the public
safety of our streets.” says Abdul Jabber who has been resident of F-8/4 for
more than 20 years.
Pedestrians face danger when they are walking on dark and
rainy sidewalks. Thieves have stolen so many covers off storm drain basins that
pedestrians now risk blindly stepping into a hole up to six feet deep that
could result in a broken leg or worse.
Catch basins are located near curbs and in alleys to drain
water from our roadways. They are covered with large metal grates. Uncovered,
most catch basins are a foot or two deep. Others can be as deep as five or six
feet.
“In the dark, people
may not recognize that a catch basin is missing or the open hole may be covered
with leaves and debris making it harder to distinguish the hole from solid
ground.” Says Munir, an old man, who lives in F-7 and prefers evening walks
with his wife in the nearby area.
When city staff receives a report of a missing cover they
secure the location, mark the danger and if necessary call a crew to replace
the stolen cover, says Ramzan the official spokesman for the CDA adding “Out of these, 3,000 manhole
covers are managed by the Roads Division of the CDA,”
He insisted that the authority’s civic management wing was
in the process of limiting the theft of manhole covers but “we can’t keep an
eye on every manhole cover every day.”
A catch-basin cover is made of cast iron and weighs about
140 pounds. “There are gangs of young and old thieves, mostly from the squatter
settlements of the capital,” he said, “and they are equipped with hammers and
iron cutters to dismantle the covers within few minutes.”
Commenting over the financial loss faced by the authority he
added that the per month loss crosses over Rs148, 000.
