' On the news item in daily The News", dated 23rd of March, 1998 with regard to the death of a child on account of falling in the uncovered manholes, (named Tanveer Ahmad aged 4 years), this Court issued suo motu notice to the Director-General LDA, the Managing Director WASA, the District Magistrate, Lahore the Senior Superintendent of Police, Lahore and the learned Advocate-General, Punjab. The learned Advocate-General, Punjab having sought instructions, submitted that a case has been registered against the delinquent officials and section 321-A, that the WASA officials have been directed to cover the uncovered manholes and that the Chief Minister, Punjab has taken a very serious notice of the incident and has awarded compensation of Rs,2,00,000 to the bereaved family.
2. The death of a child on account of uncovered manholes is not a solitary incident. There are several cases in which many families have lost their young ones on account of the inefficiency of the concerned officials. That such incidents do not recurred and the families who suffer such tragedies are compensated, the learned Advocate-General was asked to establish contact with the Chief Executive of the Province, so that a uniform policy decision is taken for the entire Province.
Having established contact, the learned Advocate-General, has submitted that the Chief Minister of the Punjab has issued special instructions to all concerned to take effective precautionary measures to forestall such incident and necessary amendments in the law are also in the offing to punish the delinquents. He further submits that the Chief Minister Punjab had decided in future whenever such a death takes place, the Government shall pay Rs,2,00,000 to the bereaved family.
In this regard, the District Magistrate may hold a summary enquiry to confirm that the death of the child took place on account of the lapse of the concerned department or (which is entrusted to maintain the manholes) or not.
3. In view of the categorically statement made by the learned Advocate-General, Punjab no further action is called for. The suo motu proceedings are disposed of in terms noted above.