New Delhi: There is an unusual crackdown in Pakistan; a new law—the Gutter Law—has been proposed to punish anyone who steals manhole covers. The development came amid several incidents of vanishing sewer lids from city streets, leaving behind open drains, injuries and, in some cases, death.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has announced a proposed law targeting manhole cover thefts, after multiple incidents of the cover being allegedly stolen.
The legislation follows multiple tragic incidents, including a mother and infant falling into open drains in Lahore. The incident had caused a massive uproar after the Punjab government in Pakistan dismissed it as fake news and later arrested the husband of the woman.
In a separate incident in Sargodha, a child fell into an uncovered drain but was rescued in time. These incidents, however, are not isolated. Across Punjab — from major cities like Lahore to smaller towns — uncovered drains have caused multiple fatalities, drawing widespread political attention.
In January, a seven-year-old boy in Punjab’s Bahawalpur district fell into an open manhole in Dhanote town near Lodhran city and died, according to a Dawn report.
The same month, a three-year-old boy’s body was recovered from an open manhole in Karachi’s Gulshan-i-Iqbal area, more than 12 hours after the incident was first reported, states the report.
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‘10,000 manhole covers stolen’
In an editorial, Dawn had said that “gaping manholes are a full-blown emergency in Pakistan.”
It then added that according to official data, Islamabad has 30,000 manholes of which 1,657 are bare. In 2025, uncovered sewers led to the death of 24 people in Karachi, five of them children.
“Resources must also be poured into the internationally used manhole scanning systems that assess structural conditions. Above all, the political will to repair administrative architecture and delegate authority to related tiers cannot be deferred. It is time to practise safety”, the editorial noted.
Maryam Nawaz seems to have paid heed to the comment.
The so-called “Gutter Law” would punish anyone caught stealing, selling, or buying covers with one to 10 years in prison and fines up to PKR 50 lakh.
If missing covers cause fatal accidents, offenders could face a mandatory 10-year sentence, Maryam Nawaz announced in a video message Saturday.
She can be seen saying, “We install manholes in the day, and they get stolen by night”. She added that 10,000 manhole covers have been stolen until now.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)