Watch out for that gaping manhole!

Feb 28, 2015

One busy evening, I happened to witness a young woman carrying a basket of ripe bananas slip into a manhole.


By Caroline Ariba

One busy Saturday evening, I happened to witness a young woman carrying a basket of ripe bananas on top of her head slip into an open manhole along Jinja road. She had seemed absent-minded and was clearly caught unawares.

An ugly fall that was!

Still in a bit of shock, she scrambled out of the manhole bruised and bleeding, and even worse, most of her bananas squashed. She sat right there, at the scene of her fall, clothes mud-stained, and stared hopelessly at what was left of her business.

Definitely she was not he first to fall victim (literally) of a gaping manhole. I bet many others have.

To make it worse, these open drainage holes are in the path of Kampala’s narrow side-walks. So while you might be lucky to dodge one during broad-day light, the odds might just not favour you under the cover of darkness.

So who is to blame for these open manholes? Are the authorities to take the blame, or should the fingers point to the public?

Peter Kauju, who is the spokesperson for Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) says they have played their role, and blames thugs for undoing what they have done.

"Many of these manholes are part of the city's drainage system and every hole is a channel for a particular pipe. These holes were initially covered with metallic leads until a group of thugs discovered that they could get money from selling the lids as scrap.

"No matter how many times we cover these holes, they are stolen," he explains.

Open manholes are more deceptive and dangerous during rainy days. When a road floods, these holes fill up and get submerged, becoming a trap for an unwitting walker. Any wrong step and away you are carried!

Some ridiculous people worsen the situation by choosing to dump rubbish and sacks of dead animals, plus other sorts of filthy objects, into these gaping holes. So on top of blocking drainage systems, an upsetting stench envelops the air around – even being potentially hazardous to the environment including the health of the people living around.

Like most metropolitans, Kampala hosts severe rush hour where thousands of people pour onto the sidewalks and roads in an attempt to maneuver their way back home. Picture this; a tiny walkway shared by not only pedestrians but also impatient boda-boda [motor] cyclists and frustrated car drivers flashing blinding headlights and hooting very loudly as they fidget through the traffic jam.

Amid all this confusion, a pedestrian does not realize it until he/she is actually swallowed by a manhole.

To try to prevent the theft of manhole covers, KCCA says it is using heavier lids.

But the question is: is it really enough?

 

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});