Court orders TMC to pay Rs15m compensation to family of man who died after falling in drain

A civil court in Karachi has ruled that the Town Municipal Corporation (TMC) Orangi is responsible for negligence in a case involving the death of a citizen who fell into a drain during heavy rains six years ago.

The Senior Civil Judge (West) announced the verdict in the case of Arif Qureshi’s death, ordering TMC Orangi to pay Rs15 million in compensation to the deceased’s family.

The court exonerated the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation from responsibility in the matter.

According to the judgment, the deceased was a young, unmarried man with no known health issues and had a long life expectancy. The court held that his life was lost due to negligence and failure on the part of the local administration.

The court observed that despite modern weather forecasting systems, the concerned authorities failed to take preventive measures. It further stated that the lack of proper covering of dangerous manholes and drains reflected serious administrative negligence.

The petitioner’s lawyer, Usman Farooq, argued that on July 26, 2020, during heavy rainfall, the victim was returning home when he fell into an uncovered drain and later died due to injuries.

TMC Orangi argued in court that the petition was not maintainable and claimed that all necessary safety measures had been taken during the rainfall.