The Sindh Assembly on Monday witnessed intense protests as lawmakers condemned the death of three-year-old Ibrahim, who fell into an open manhole in Karachi, calling it a result of gross negligence by civic authorities.
During the session chaired by Speaker Owais Qadir Shah, members demanded legislation to punish those responsible for such incidents and urged the removal of officials linked to the tragedy.
Several lawmakers said everyone shares responsibility “whether a person dies in a robbery or drowns in a gutter.”
Opposition members staged a strong protest after being denied permission to speak on the incident.
Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said the tragedy was “heartbreaking and deeply shocking.”
He told the House that the provincial cabinet had discussed the matter with the administration and assured that “whoever is found responsible will be punished.”
He said political point-scoring at such a moment was regrettable, stressing that “a human life is the most precious thing” and accountability was essential.
MQM lawmaker Iftikhar Alam questioned how long Karachi’s residents would continue dying by falling into manholes or being crushed under dumpers.
He said billions were allegedly spent on sanitation, yet “manholes have become death traps.”
He claimed rescue machinery arrived late and staff did not know the flow direction of the drain.
JI MPA Muhammad Farooq said his party’s local leaders reached the site immediately, but no response came from the DMC or the mayor’s office.
He said JI councillors arranged machinery on their own as there was no sewerage map available, making the search extremely difficult.
Independent MPA Rehan Bandukda said the tragedy exposed the city’s collapse.
“It is painful to imagine what the parents went through. The shocking reality is that the city does not even have proper machinery to retrieve a child,” he said.
A separate protest took place earlier at the KMC building, where opposition members chanted slogans against Mayor Murtaza Wahab and demanded his immediate resignation.
Opposition leader Saifuddin Advocate said every such incident was the mayor’s responsibility and called for filing cases against him wherever tragedies occur.
He accused the mayor of repeatedly failing in his duties and warned that the opposition “will not let him off” if he refuses to step down.
According to police and rescue workers, the child slipped into the uncovered manhole near Nipa on Sunday night while shopping with his parents. His body was recovered after almost 15 hours of search operations.
The incident has triggered grief and outrage across Karachi and the country, with civil society, journalists and political leaders blaming government negligence and calling for strict accountability.
