SAHIWAL: Officials and contractors working on a mega sewerage project here have failed to appear before an inquiry committee formed by Sahiwal CommissionerDr Asif Tufail on Nov 23 to look into causes of `a mishap’ which took the lives of three labourers working on a well.

The 30-foot deep trench had been dug for the installation of main sewerage line under the Punjab Intermediate Cities Improvement and Investment Programme (PICIIP), funded by the Asian Development Bank, near village 89/6-R on Muhammadpur Road on Nov 22.

Heirs of the deceased have reportedly been paid Rs 1.2mn `compensation’ each but who paid the money is not known.

The committee has been mandated to determine the causes of the mishap, examine safety measures and fix responsibility on contractors, both Chinese and local, as well as PICIIP managers.Committee Chairman Tanveer Qasir, Sahiwal WASA DG, told

Dawn that none of the responsible officials had appeared before the panel despite repeated calls. The commissioner had constituted the committee in response to public outrage and family protests.

Sources said the committee chairman had informed the commissioner that officials concerned were not cooperating. The Rs18bn development project is running under SOPD of ADB. The committee headed by Tanveer Qasir includes Akram Shahid (Deputy Director Development) and Nouman Qasir (SDEO PERA).

Eyewitnesses and fellow labourers alleged that contractors had not ensured proper safety measures. Trench walls collapsed because no protective support had been installed.

As the accident occurred, two cranes removed the debris and recovered the bodies of Asad Ali, Talib Bashir, and Ihsan hailing from Tandlianwala, Faisalabad. This was the second such accident during the long-delayed PICIIP project.

Earlier, on May 29, 2020, a labourer was buried alive while two others were injured when a trench wall collapsed at Railway Road under similar circumstances.

At that time too, SOPs and safety protocols had been ignored by the same contractors.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2025