KARACHI, Pakistan —Eight-year-old Dilbar Ali died Monday after he fell into an uncovered manhole while playing outside his home in Mehran Town in Korangi district, police said. The Karachi manhole death has renewed pressure on the city government to explain how a nearly Rs300 million annual allocation to union committees will be tracked and used to prevent similar incidents, Dec. 29, 2025.
Police said relatives pulled him from the sewer but he did not survive. In a Geo News report, Dilbar’s father, Azhar Ali, said the manhole cover “has been missing for over a month” and that his son was the couple’s only child.
The incident happened around 5 p.m. in Sector 6-G as children played near the family’s home, according to The Express Tribune. Korangi police said they were reviewing how long the opening had been left uncovered.
In a separate account, Dawn cited police and Edhi Foundation data showing 27 people died in 2025 after falling into open manholes and drains in Karachi, including eight children. The Karachi manhole death of Dilbar adds to a toll that residents say has become a routine risk in neighborhoods with broken covers and poor lighting.
Karachi manhole death raises questions about Rs300m UC funds
Earlier this month, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation approved nearly Rs300 million per year — Rs100,000 per month for each of 246 union committees (UCs) — for manhole covers and streetlights, Dawn reported. The plan, announced after the Nipa Chowrangi tragedy, includes a public helpline (1334) for reporting uncovered manholes.
But Dilbar’s death has sparked fresh scrutiny of how the UC funds will be monitored. Mayor Murtaza Wahab urged residents not to turn the Karachi manhole death into a political contest and said preliminary information suggested the cover had been removed and left nearby, according to Dawn.
Deputy Mayor Salman Abdullah Murad visited the family and said officers and elected representatives found responsible would face action, Geo reported. He also said the UC chairman had been given 10 sewer covers about 10 days earlier.
A hazard with a long paper trail
The Karachi manhole death pattern has surfaced repeatedly, often followed by investigations and then little visible change. In March 2024, Dawn reported that 4-year-old Mohsin Lashari was found dead in an open gutter in Shah Latif Town; it also cited a Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation executive as saying more than 20,000 manholes were without covers citywide.
The News International reported in March 2024 that a father filed a civil suit seeking Rs62.6 million after his 6-year-old son died in May 2023 when he fell into an uncovered manhole while playing in Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
For residents of Mehran Town, the question after Dilbar’s death is whether the Karachi manhole death will bring measurable changes — covered openings, routine inspections and clear lines of responsibility — before another child wanders too close to an unguarded sewer.
