After many accidents that left several young men and women dead on the streets all over the province and specially in major cities like Hyderabad and Karachi the matter was at last discussed by authorities when someone in the Sindh Assembly in a press conference pointed out the outrageous number of fatal accidents in the province and specially those which will have lasting effects on the victims’ families. Just a glance at the most recent accidents reads like a horror story.
There were the two teenage brothers who were killed in Karachi when a trailer ran over their motorcycle near Karimabad furniture market as they were travelling to collect their Eid clothes from their tailor. There cannot be a more tragic incident than this. The plight of their father understandably was heart rendering. He wept and wailed that there is no one left to support him and his whole life has been devastated.
In another accident with more or less the same tragic consequences another two brothers aged 30 and 22 years died on Jamshoro-Kotri national highway when their motorcycle collided with a car.
The deceased belonged to Tando Adam Khan and were returning home when the unfortunate accident occurred. The list goes on and on and more names are added every day from all over the province. Karachi, it seems, tops the list with water tankers and other heavy vehicles running down mostly motorcycle riders and their families.
Karachi fatalities through accidents can be classified under various categories such as killed in traffic accidents followed by falling in open manholes and then of course those who lose their life due to dog bites.
Death by dog bites is the one most avoidable as timely medical intervention can save dog bite victims.
Why these victims of dog-bites do not survive is because they either do not get to a hospital for treatment in time or the hospital they approach does not have the required medicine .Ignorance is another cause of dog-bite deaths as the victim or his or her families do not have the knowledge about available dog-bite treatment and rely on local remedies till it is too late. This happened recently when a rickshaw driver, father of three children, was bitten by a dog.
He came home and washed the wound and thought that was enough. As it turned out it was not enough and he developed symptoms after a while and by the time he got to a hospital that had the required medicine it was too late. By the way the dog population in Karachi is increasing at a rapid pace and no one seems to be bothered about it.
In Clifton, for example, near the newly established-peddle courts the road is now infested with stray dogs. This road also has a reasonable amount of human traffic as the anti-terrorism courts are located here and also a serious amount of traffic of maids that work in the surrounding apartments and bungalows.
Only a matter of time before there is some serious dog-bite incident. Just like in the case of so many others where one bite leaves a scar that destroys the lives of entire families deprived of their bread earner.
With all these incidents happening all over the province one would imagine there would be a lot of action to prevent further loss of life but while there is a lot of debate no actions are taking place just now.
Actually, a heated debate has started on the rights of dogs and in opposition to any action against them but there are no concrete proposals as to what the alternatives are. About victims of traffic accidents there seems to be no new campaign to somehow stop the killing-spree of uncontrolled heavy vehicles whose reckless driving knows no limits.
Children continue to fall prey to open manholes and the most recent victim was three-year-old Ahsan Naveed whose body was found in an open manhole near NIPA Chowrangi close to where he lived.
There cannot be one solution to all these problems but someone has to start the ball rolling. We now have fancy number plates but what we really also need are careful drivers and a well-trained dedicated traffic police force.
Our streets are being paved and beautified but what we also need is covered manholes to save innocent lives and dog-free streets where we and our children can walk without fear. Let us keep our fingers crossed.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
The writer is a well-known columnist
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