The Open Manhole Crisis in Pakistan: Deaths, Data, and What You Can Do

The Scale of the Crisis

Open manholes and uncovered drains are among Pakistan's most overlooked — yet most deadly — urban hazards. In Karachi, officially compiled figures from 2025 show that 11 people died from falling into open manholes specifically, while 16 others died from falling into uncovered drains across different parts of the city.

But the crisis is not confined to Karachi. In January 2026, a 24-year-old woman named Sadia and her 10-month-old daughter Rida Fatima fell into an uncovered sewer line near Data Darbar in Lahore where development work was underway. As Dawn reported, the force of the sewage carried Sadia's body three kilometres from the point of entry. Both mother and infant died.

Across Punjab, the problem is so severe that approximately 10,000 manhole covers are stolen or damaged in Lahore every single year, according to WASA (Water and Sanitation Agency) estimates.

Why Are Manholes Left Open?

The reasons behind Pakistan's open manhole epidemic are systemic. They fall into three broad categories:

• Theft for scrap metal. Pakistan's economic crisis has driven an alarming rise in manhole cover theft. Iron rings weighing up to 30 kilograms and the steel reinforcement in concrete covers are sold to scrap dealers, factories, and hardware shops. Thieves frequently arrive on donkey carts under cover of darkness — covers installed in the morning often vanish by nightfall.
• Negligent construction and maintenance. Officials frequently remove manhole covers during sewer line cleaning, road construction, or utility work and simply fail to replace them. In the case of Dilbar Ali, the cover had been missing for an entire month after official sewer cleaning. Near Data Darbar in Lahore, development contractors left a sewer line exposed without any safety barriers.
• Monsoon flooding damage. Heavy monsoon rains dislodge covers, flood sewerage systems, and create concealed death traps where open manholes become invisible beneath standing water. During the 2025 monsoon, Karachi received over 200mm of rain in a single day — far beyond the 40mm capacity of its drainage system.

The Human Cost: Notable Incidents in 2025

Behind every statistic is a family torn apart. Here are some of the incidents that shook the nation in 2025:

• Ibrahim, age 3 (November 2025, Karachi): Three-year-old Ibrahim was walking with his father outside a department store near Nipa Chowrangi in Gulshan-e-Iqbal when he let go of his father's hand and slipped into an uncovered manhole around 10pm. Despite the family's frantic calls, official rescue machinery did not arrive until the following morning. His body was recovered 15 hours later near Sir Syed University, having been carried by the underground sewerage current. Public anger erupted: roads around Nipa Chowrangi were blocked and tyres were set ablaze.
• Dilbar Ali, age 8 (December 2025, Karachi): As detailed above, Dilbar fell into a manhole in Korangi's Mehran Town that had been left uncovered for a month. He was the 27th victim of the year. According to The Express Tribune, the manhole that killed him remained uncovered even after his death.
• Sadia and Rida Fatima (January 2026, Lahore): A mother and her infant daughter fell into an open construction-site sewer near Data Darbar. The Punjab government initially called the report “fake” before rescue teams recovered both bodies. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz ordered the arrest of responsible officials, and the entire Data Darbar revamp project team was suspended.

Government Response: Too Little, Too Late?

Authorities have responded to mounting public anger, but critics argue that the measures are reactive rather than preventive:

• Karachi: After Ibrahim's death, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) allocated Rs 100,000 per month to each of the city's 246 union committees specifically for maintaining manhole covers and streetlights — a total of roughly Rs 300 million per year. The KWSC (Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation) reported receiving 1,543 open-manhole complaints between October 2024 and December 2025, with 89.94% reportedly resolved. KWSC has also committed to a 12–24 hour response time for verified complaints.
• Punjab: Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz announced a new law imposing up to 10 years in prison and fines of Rs 3–5 million for manhole cover theft that results in death. For factories, scrapyard owners, and entities involved in buying stolen covers, proposed fines run as high as Rs 100 million.

While these are encouraging steps, enforcement remains the core challenge. Manholes continue to go uncovered across Pakistan's cities, and the gap between policy announcements and ground-level reality remains vast.

Citizen-Led Solutions: Dhakkan App vs. MarkSafe

In the absence of reliable government action, citizen-led technology platforms have stepped in. Two notable tools are addressing this crisis:

• Dhakkan App: A Karachi-focused app that lets users photograph open manholes and send GPS-tagged complaints directly to the KWSC complaint cell via email. It features a camera-first design, works offline, and requires no account. However, it is limited to Karachi and depends entirely on KWSC's responsiveness.
• MarkSafe: A nationwide, community-driven hazard mapping platform that covers all cities across Pakistan. Unlike Dhakkan, MarkSafe does not just report to a single authority — it creates a persistent, publicly visible map of hazards that any citizen can access to navigate safely. Users can report open manholes, potholes, exposed wires, and other hazards with GPS precision, upload photo evidence, and rate severity. Other citizens upvote reports, surfacing the most critical hazards. It is free, anonymous, and requires no sign-up.

Both tools serve important but different roles. Dhakkan is a direct complaint mechanism for Karachi. MarkSafe is a community safety layer for the entire country — a living, breathing map of every dangerous spot on Pakistan's streets.

What You Can Do Right Now

Open manholes will continue to kill until systemic change happens. But while we push for that change, here is what you can do today:

1. Report every open manhole you see. Use MarkSafe's map to drop a pin, upload a photo, and alert your community. Every report makes the map more complete and helps others avoid danger.
2. Mark temporary barriers. If you encounter an open manhole, place visible objects around it — bricks, large stones, branches — to warn others, especially at night.
3. Be vigilant during and after rain. Flooded streets hide open manholes. Never walk or drive through standing water where you cannot see the road surface.
4. Watch children closely in urban areas. Eight of the 27 victims in Karachi in 2025 were children. Keep young ones close on sidewalks and near roadsides.
5. Demand accountability. Contact your local union committee, councillor, or MPA. Share open-manhole reports on social media. Public pressure is the only force that has historically triggered government action on this issue.

The Bottom Line

Pakistan's open manhole crisis is not a natural disaster. It is a man-made catastrophe driven by theft, negligence, and institutional failure. The infrastructure exists to fix this — what is missing is the will to maintain it and the accountability when maintenance fails.

Every open manhole reported is a life potentially saved. If you see one, mark it on MarkSafe. Tell your neighbours. Tell your councillor. Do not wait for the next headline about a child who never came home.