KARACHI:
Three sanitation workers died while working in raw sewage gutters in Usmanabad neighbourhood of Karachi in September 2025. The tragedy was repeated in April 2026, with another three sanitation workers dying in identical circumstances. These so-called accidents are, in truth, acts of murder, as workers were sent into toxic sewage pits without even the most basic safety equipment or precautions. As safety is a direct responsibility of the top management, in any civilised country the chief executive of a company would be liable for this gross neglect and often sentenced to a jail term.
How come, in our country, the Sindh police did not bother to raise even an FIR against the responsible quarters for their unforgiveable criminal negligence. The police completely failed to protect the weak and the vulnerable and instead supported the rich and the powerful – by not initiating the accountability process.
Our sanitation workers have been cruelly dying in sewage gutters for the past 80 years. It is time to legislate a complete ban on manual scavenging and entry of workers into sewage gutters. It is also time to hold the police accountable for failing to register cases for criminal neglect against the authorities that are responsible.
Naeem Sadiq
Karachi
