Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Thursday ordered the arrests of the Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA) project director, manager, consultant and a Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) official over the deaths of a woman and her daughter after falling into an open manhole near Lahore’s Bhatti Gate area.
The woman and her 10-month-old daughter died on Wednesday after they fell into an open manhole near construction activity in the provincial capital. The incident attracted controversy as police initially claimed the news was fabricated and took the husband of the deceased woman into custody. Rather than correcting the situation, Information Minister Azma Bokhari dubbed reports on the incident “fake news,” further damaging the Punjab government’s credibility.
On Thursday, the chief minister chaired a special meeting on the incident, ordering Punjab Inspector General of Police Usman Anwar to arrest Project Manager Asghar Sindhu, Safety In-charge Daniyal, Site In-charge Ahmed Nawaz and WASA official Usman Babar over “severe negligence.” Additionally, she ordered the immediate dismissal of the project director and the WASA official from service, emphasizing that neither man should be able to secure any other job “so they realize the gravity of the criminal negligence they committed.”
Nawaz said the affected family should be given Rs. 10 million in compensation from the contractor.
“There is no difference between the Bhati Gate incident and murder,” she said, regretting that criminal acts took place at every level.
During the meeting, which was broadcast on news channels, the chief minister also held the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) director general, WASA managing director, Lahore commissioner, deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner responsible for the incident.
After the meeting, Nawaz wrote a post on the incident on X. “The loss of an innocent life in the heart of Lahore is not a mere accident, it is a crime, and it has bowed my head in shame,” she wrote, lamenting that instead of accepting responsibility, facts were distorted to hide incompetence. “Officers who cannot even secure an open manhole have no right to hold office,” she warned.
“I will not rest until justice is served, the blood of the two daughters is accounted for, and every responsible officer is brought to punishment,” she wrote, regretting that while a poor life was lost to negligence and dereliction of duty, what made the situation even more painful was the attempt to suppress the truth. “Let me be clear, the time of negligent and dishonest officers is over. I will stand as a shield for the family that was harassed instead of being given justice,” she vowed. “In Punjab, every life will be valued, no matter how powerful the officer involved,” she added.