BRT official rejects KMC’s allegation regarding Karachi manhole incident

KARACHI: The BRT Red Line Project Manager has issued a clarification statement on the death of a three-year-old child who fell into an open manhole near Nipa Chowrangi in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal area of ​​Karachi.

The clarification statement came after Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) held the management of BRT and a private store responsible for the Nipa Chowrangi incident.

In a statement, the BRT Project Manager said that the death of three-year-old Ibrahim is a very heartbreaking tragedy, and the management team shares the grief of the grieving family.

The Manager of Climate and Social Safeguard of Red Line BRT has stated that the incident occurred at a location that is located at a considerable distance from the construction area of ​​​​BRT, where there was no excavation in progress, nor was there any BRT machinery, activity, or obstruction.

The statement added that the condition of the road was also perfect, and the old sewage channel in which the incident occurred in the manhole is not included in the administrative or operational scope of BRT Red Line.

The BRT administration further clarified that the letter of the senior director of KMC creates an impression contrary to reality, while the ground situation is opposite to it, as neither construction activity took place at the incident site nor any work was done nearby.

The statement said that all construction works of BRT are started only after obtaining NOC from the concerned agencies, and in case of excavation, the space is immediately filled and made safe.

The parking area where the tragedy occurred is owned by a store and is quite far from the BRT works; therefore, it is irresponsible to link the tragedy to the BRT Red Line project.

The BRT Red Line administration further said that since the BRT Red Line project is being implemented with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), strict safety norms are applied at the construction sites and they are constantly monitored.

The project management assured that it will continue to cooperate with all parties and maintain high standards of safety at construction sites.