Karachi officials blamed for negligence after child's death

Karachi [Pakistan], December 7 (ANI): In a scathing response to administrative negligence, the City Council's Water and Sewerage Committee dismissed all inquiry reports submitted by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC), and TransKarachi concerning the tragic death of three-year-old Ibrahim, who lost his life after falling into an uncovered manhole near NIPA earlier this week, as reported by Dawn.
According to Dawn, the committee, led by Leader of the Opposition Advocate Saifuddin, sharply criticised what it described as a recurring pattern of "irresponsibility and indifference" among senior municipal authorities.
The meeting, which aimed to assess departmental accountability, was attended by representatives from TransKarachi and the KWSC.
However, the municipal commissioner, despite being officially summoned, neither attended the session nor sent a representative, drawing widespread condemnation from the committee members.
After the proceedings, the committee visited the site of the tragedy. Speaking to the media, Advocate Saifuddin expressed outrage over the absence of the municipal commissioner, stating that it reflected a "clear lack of seriousness" from both the KMC administration and the mayor's office. He further alleged that throughout the meeting, each department tried to shift blame rather than accept responsibility for the fatal lapse.
The committee also rejected KWSC's initial report, claiming that the stormwater drain did not fall under its jurisdiction. Members deemed the report "incomplete, evasive, and unsatisfactory," noting that such bureaucratic deflection only deepens Karachi's longstanding governance crisis, as highlighted by Dawn.
Saifuddin added that while a few officials had been suspended, the move appeared to be merely a public relations attempt to quell public anger rather than a genuine effort to address systemic flaws. "Four days have passed since the child's death, yet the authorities remain clueless about who is responsible for leaving the manhole open," he stated.
Calling the situation "unacceptable and shameful," Saifuddin urged an independent and transparent inquiry. The committee demanded urgent reforms within the city's municipal structure to ensure accountability and prevent such tragedies from recurring in Karachi's chronically mismanaged civic landscape, as reported by Dawn. (ANI)