Karachi | Pakistan

Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab visited the grieving family of a three-year-old boy who fell into an open manhole and drowned in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Wednesday night, assuring them of an impartial inquiry and action against those found negligent. The body of the boy, who drowned in an open manhole near Nipa in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Sunday night, was found on Monday, around 15 hours after the incident occurred. The child’s tragic death, particularly the lack of cooperation from relevant civic agencies to launch an immediate search, had angered relatives and area residents, who staged a protest on University Road on Sunday night and again during the day on Monday. On Tuesday, many political parties held protests against the provincial administration and demanded that the Karachi mayor resign, while pleas were also filed in courts demanding action against city officials. A post by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation on X on Wednesday night said the mayor visited the boy’s family and extended his condolences. “An imparti...

KARACHI - China has donated 58 solar-powered street lights to Karachi, in what officials described as a small but practical boost to the city’s public safety and local infrastructure.

A Karachi anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Wednesday acquitted Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Dr Mahrang Baloch in a case of sedition and public mischief registered against her in October last year. Mahrang had been booked in the terrorism case by Malir district’s Quaidabad police on Oct 11, 2024, for allegedly inciting people by levelling “allegations against security institutions”. ATC Judge Ayaz Mustafa Jokhio announced the verdict today on Mahrang’s acquittal plea in the case, filed by Advocate Jibran Nasir. “I am of the view that there is no probability of the accused being convicted of any offence. I hereby allow this application and acquit the accused, Mst. Mahrang Baloch, d/o Abdul Ghaffar,” the court order read. The rights activist was cleared of charges under section 265-K (power of court to acquit accused at any stage) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Mahrang, as per the court order, appeared via video link from Quetta Prison, where she has been incarcerated after her arrest in March....

• PSQCA finds formalin and phosphate in samples • Commissioner says Rs220 per litre milk price was fixed on Nov 27 and retailers strictly told to ensure quality KARACHI: The city commissioner has informed the Sindh High Court that all milk samples collected from Karachi were found unfit for human consumption by the Pakistan Standards & Quality Control Authority. The report, which was submitted on behalf of the commissioner, also said that presence of formalin in 22 samples and phosphate in eight samples indicated extensive adulteration. It also maintained that there was no justification for any increase in the price of fresh milk particularly due to decline in consumption of milk related products in winter. Citing the department of agriculture, supply and price, the commissioner and others as respondents, a petition was filed in 2023 by a dairy farmer impugning a notification about the official price of fresh milk fixed in October 2023. A report on behalf of the commissioner of Karachi was placed before a two...

A minor girl died of burns while five of her family members were injured in an explosion in a car in Karachi’s Quaidabad area early on Tuesday morning, according to police, hospital and rescue services officials. They added that six people suffered burn injuries when a liquified petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder exploded inside the car at Quaidabad’s main roundabout. Rescue-1122 spokesperson Hassaanul Haseeb Khan told Dawn that the family was filling LPG cylinders from a roadside shop when the explosion took place. Regarding possible reasons, Khan said that generally, “Such explosions take place because of a lack of mandatory hydrostatic tests after a certain period. “Another possible reason was that when the cylinder is filled with LPG with pressure, it triggers an explosion,” he added. Khan noted a similar incident in Shah Faisal Colony recently with human casualties. He added that these roadside shops took no precautionary measures, as they were illegal. “The injured were transported to the burns centre at Kara...

Karachi is often portrayed in headlines as chaotic and overwhelmed by modern sprawl. But scattered among the skyscrapers, traffic-choked roads, and dense informal settlements stand reminders of a different city — a port once celebrated for its order, elegance, and architecture. The clocktower at Eduljee Dinshaw Charitable Dispensary in Karachi. — Anadolu Agency Among the most striking relics are Karachi’s historic clock towers — orange and rose-pink structures from the late 19th and early 20th centuries — that once guided the city’s rhythms. Today, many are crumbling, forgotten or overtaken by encroachments, leaving historians and conservationists worried that a rare chapter of the city’s past may soon disappear. In the heart of downtown Saddar, squeezed between Chinese dental clinics and corner grocery shops, stands the 19th-century clock tower of the Eduljee Dinshaw Charitable Dispensary — now a Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) facility. The clocktower at Eduljee Dinshaw Charitable Dispensary in Karac...

The body of a three-year-old boy who fell into an open manhole in Karachi’s Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Sunday night was recovered on Monday, more than 12 hours after the incident was first reported. The development was confirmed by both Rescue 1122 and Edhi, with the latter adding that the body was being taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. Images shared on social media last night had showed a large number of citizens gathered in the area as rescue work was underway. Other videos also showed the child’s distraught mother calling on someone to save her child. Earlier, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hassaanul Haseeb Khan told Dawn that the service’s central command received information about the incident at 10pm on Sunday night. He said the boy was with his parents, who were shopping at a private departmental store near Nipa. He said the boy fell into the manhole after the family left the store. Khan added that Rescue 1122 did not usually initiate search operations at night due to a lack of visibility. But, since a “...

• Traffic police, KDA’s TEB, Cantt boards, SMTA are involved in regulating traffic, installation of signals, signs across city • Nearly half of city’s 130 traffic signals are out of order, say sources • Mass transit body recently installed 11 signals • Govt mulls single body for traffic engineering KARACHI: While the Sindh government appears to be overzealous about strict implementation of e-challans, the responsibility of traffic engineering remains scattered among multiple entities, hindering the development of a seamless and efficient transportation network in Karachi. Sources told Dawn that the absence of a unified traffic engineering authority was a significant obstacle to designing and implementing solutions — from road design to traffic signal timing — leaving the city’s traffic stuck in multiple gridlocks. They said that the challenging task of traffic engineering and management was at present shared among multiple entities, including the Traffic Engineering Bureau (TEB) of the Karachi Development Aut...

The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) has launched a project to build a new air traffic control (ATC) tower and a modern rescue and firefighting station (RFFS) at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport, a PAA press release said on Friday. According to the press release, the design phase of the project is expected to be completed within six months, with a two-year construction period for the tower and the station. “The facilities will be designed and constructed by MM Pakistan in [a] joint venture with CEMOSA and Fairbanks Architects from Spain, bringing international expertise in airport planning and communication and navigation/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) systems integration,” the press release read. A photo of Jinnah International Airport in Karachi from December 26, 2024. — Abyan Amir It added that senior architect Bruce Fairbanks and CNS/ATM specialist Juan Cruz Canabate participated in a four-day workshop at Jinnah International, where they interacted with local aviation professionals to establish d...

Water supply to multiple areas of Karachi will remain disrupted today (Thursday) as the Dhabeji substation undergoes scheduled annual maintenance, raising the possibility of a shortfall of nearly 100 million gallons.

Karachi is among the nine densely built megacities in Asia and the Pacific which are particularly vulnerable to heat and are projected to become substantially hotter in the years ahead, a report released by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) on Wednesday said. The report, titled Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2025: Rising Heat, Rising Risk, stated that urban areas are already at high risk for extreme heat due to the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Densely built surfaces trap heat and raise city temperatures above those of surrounding rural areas. It added that this challenge is being exacerbated by rapid and often unplanned urbanisation and insufficient green spaces, further warning that UHI would raise temperatures by 2 to 7°C, on top of global warming. As access to cooling, water and healthcare comes under increased strain, children, the elderly and outdoor workers in densely populated urban areas are disproportionately affected. Higher-income areas usually lie in cooler...

Lawyers held a protest march in Karachi on Wednesday, demanding “immediate” steps for the protection and preservation of the Karoonjhar Mountain range. They also called for the withdrawal of an appeal by the Sindh government, challenging a two-judge Sindh High Court bench judgement on the preservation of Karoonjhar hills in Tharparkar. The appeal was filed in the Supreme Court, but it has now landed in the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), which was established under the 27th Amendment. The Sindh High Court Bar Association had announced a protest today, calling for the preservation of the Karoonjhar Mountain range, and planned to march from the Sindh High Court to the Chief Minister House. View this post on Instagram However, the protesters were barred from reaching the CM House due to the placement of containers to block the routes leading to the building. The measure also created inconvenience for the commuters who were asked by the traffic police in multiple advisories to travel on alternative routes. Po...

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Monday approved Rs25 billion for the reconstruction of 315 internal streets and 60 major roads across Karachi while ordering the proper installation of streetlights throughout the metropolis. Karachi’s road networks have been in shambles with thoroughfares riddled with potholes, posing serious dangers to commuters across the city, particularly after the latest spell of rains. According to a statement by CM Sindh’s spokesperson, Abdul Rashid Channa, a meeting on the reconstruction of Karachi’s roads and streets was chaired by CM Murad today. Minister for Local Government Nasir Shah, Mayor Karachi Murtaza Wahab, Chief Secretary Asif Haider Shah, Principal Secretary Agha Wasif, Senior Member Board of Revenue Khalid Haider Shah, among others, also participated. “After heavy rains, Karachi’s roads are in a state of disrepair,” CM Murad was quoted as saying. “Mega projects are underway, causing traffic problems. I want development work to be accelerated in the city so that peo...

The Adab Festival saw a gathering of big names from art, literature, media and politics for a series of talks, music performances and mushairas. The festival, now in its tenth edition, was held at Habbitt City in Karachi from November 22-23. A panel discussion is held at the Adab Festival in Karachi on November 22. — Fahim Siddiqui Visitors attend an event at the Adab Festival in Karachi on November 22. — Fahim Siddiqui A panel discussion is held at the Adab Festival in Karachi on November 22. — Fahim Siddiqui A visitor looks at fabric being sold at the Adab Festival on November 22. — Fahim Siddiqui Ex-FBR chairman Shabbar Zaidi delivers a talk at the Adab Festival in Karachi on November 22. — Fahim Siddiqui A panel discussion is held at the Adab Festival in Karachi on November 22. — Fahim Siddiqui A panel discussion is held at the Adab Festival in Karachi on November 22. — Fahim Siddiqui An audience attends a panel discussion with Khurram Karaishy at the Adab Festival in Karachi on November 22. — Fahim Siddi...

The Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) said in a statement on Sunday that power outages at water pumping stations had been resolved and that citywide water services were normal. Karachi faced a severe water crisis in November as prolonged power outages across the city disrupted pumping operations. In a statement released today, the KWSC said they maintained close coordination with K-Electric throughout the crisis to restore the water supply, and officials confirmed that “citywide water services have now returned to normal.” “All possible steps are being taken to further strengthen the water supply system in the future,” the KWSC said. Per the KWSC, the city experienced a total shortfall of 884 million gallons of water due to electricity disruptions. “The Dhabeji Pumping Station was hit hardest, with 132 hours and 20 minutes of power outages leading to a shortage of 424 million gallons, while the Dumlottee Wells recorded 146 hours of outages, resulting in 111 million gallons of lost water,” the stat...

If ‘post-truth’ was Oxford Dictionaries’ 2016 Word of the Year, then ‘post-reality’ reflects the even murkier information climate unfolding today, one where audiences and journalists alike struggle to navigate competing narratives and contested facts. This shifting landscape framed the session ‘Truth, Trust, and Tenacity: The New Media Paradigm,’ held on Saturday, which brought together journalists Fazil Jamili, Azhar Abbas, Amber Rahim Shamsi and Azaz Syed under the moderation of Nadia Naqi. The discussion was part of the Adab Festival, which returned to Karachi for its 10th edition at Habitt City from November 22 to 23. Opening the discussion, Naqi noted the challenges journalists face in working and surviving in the current media environment. “Speaking the truth comes with challenges; often we’ve seen journalists being intimidated, and the controlled environment makes it difficult to speak the truth,” she said. “With truth, of course, comes trust. Is there public trust in the media? That’s the big question...

Karachi’s residents continued to face a worsening water crisis on Friday due to repeated electricity outages by K-Electric (KE), which have disrupted the city’s water pumping operations According to the spokesperson for the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC), the city’s crucial K-3 pumping station experienced a major electric breakdown late last night, and the fault had yet to be resolved. The spokesperson said the station had also faced a significant breakdown on Tuesday, with electricity restored only a day ago after a 41-hour delay. Just hours later, the electric cable fault reappeared, forcing the station to shut down again. The station had been temporarily shut down on Monday to fix technical issues, but problems persisted. The breakdowns have caused an estimated total loss of 335 million gallons of water, severely affecting the supply across Karachi. Areas such as North Nazimabad, Gulberg Town, Gulistan-i-Johar, Scheme 33, various blocks of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, New Karachi, Saddar and Clifton are...

Two trains traveling from Karachi and Peshawar to Quetta were unexpectedly halted at Jacobabad railway station.

Customs staff on Thursday seized around Rs110 million in gold jewellery and foreign currency from a pair of alleged smugglers at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport, a statement from the Collectorate of Customs read. According to the statement, two female passengers were stopped for inspection at the international departure hall, where customs staff unearthed $6,143 and two kilogrammes of gold from one passenger and $5,746 and 1.05kg of gold from the other. “The total recovered gold jewellery and foreign currency is valued at approximately Rs110 million,” the statement read. “The recovered items were taken into custody by Customs preventive staff [and] formal detention receipts were issued, and after completing initial legal proceedings, an FIR (first information report) has been lodged against the accused passengers for attempting to smuggle gold and foreign currency in violation of customs laws.” Earlier this week, a man was stopped at Sialkot International Airport after he arrived from the United Arab E...

Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab on Wednesday met with industrialists in the metropolis’s SITE Area and Haroonabad and briefed them on ongoing sewage treatment and water recycling projects aimed at industrial use. The mayor, accompanied by a delegation of industrialists, conducted a detailed visit to the SITE Limited Sewerage Treatment Plant. On the occasion, Chief Executive Officer of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC), Ahmed Ali Siddiqui, briefed the mayor and the industrialists on the technical aspects and the current status of the treatment plants. “For the first time in Karachi’s history, a formal process of treating wastewater and recycling it for industrial purposes is being initiated to provide industries with a reliable, sustainable and uninterrupted water supply,” Wahab said. He added that the TP-III treatment facility in Mauripur has become operational again after a long time, and after 25 years, complete cleaning and rehabilitation work has been carried out at the TP-I treatment plant in...