Sindh Launches Multiagency Murder Probe as Karachi Confronts Waste Crisis and Civic Unrest
Sindh province has responded to a judicial commission's damning findings on police failures by forming a multiagency team and seeking a separate FIA-led inquiry into the murder of 25-year-old businessman Mir Raza Ali. The same week, Karachi faces mounting scrutiny over its waste management shortfall — valued at Rs 1.2 billion annually — while residents and environmentalists push back against government projects they say risk flooding.
Multiagency Team Probes Businessman's Murder After Police Failures
Sindh province formed a multiagency team to investigate the murder of Mir Raza Ali, a 25-year-old Karachi businessman whose body was discovered in bushes in Gulistan-i-Jauhar on July 29. The move followed a judicial commission's findings that cited serious police failures in the case. The provincial government has also sought a separate inquiry led by the Federal Investigation Agency into a possible cover-up, and ordered a review of police conduct. Arab News PK reported that investigators believe Mir Raza Ali's death was not properly pursued by local police in the initial period after the discovery of his body. The formation of a multiagency team signals that the Sindh government is treating both the original killing and the alleged institutional negligence as separate lines of investigation. The case drew public attention in part because Mir Raza Ali was a young entrepreneur with an online presence, and his disappearance had been reported on social media before his body was found. The FIA's potential involvement raises the stakes for law enforcement accountability in Karachi, where public trust in policing has been a persistent concern. Officials have yet to announce a timeline for the multiagency probe's initial findings. [1]
🏢 Karachi's Waste System Leaves a Rs 1.2 Billion Economy Untapped
Karachi generates more than 14,800 tonnes of waste daily, yet a large portion of the value embedded in that waste remains uncaptured, according to a detailed analysis published by The Express Tribune. The city accounts for an estimated 25 percent of Pakistan's recyclable plastic waste, while informal recyclers who already extract economic value from that stream are excluded from formal planning. PAQI's 2025 source inventory finds that open waste burning contributes 7 percent of the city's PM2.5 pollution — a city that met WHO daily air-quality guidelines on only three days in 2024. Concept Loop, a Pakistani circular-economy company, converts multilayer plastic packaging into construction materials including pavers, blocks, and tiles. It has recycled over 1,300 tonnes of plastic and produced more than 100,000 square feet of building products. The company has received support through Karandaaz's GreenFin Innovations programme and has supplied pavers to a Mari Petroleum project in Sindh. Economists note that Pakistan imported virgin plastic resin worth $3 billion in 2022, underscoring how better recovery systems could reduce import dependence. Critics argue that without structural inclusion of informal recyclers in formal waste policy, the city's environmental and economic gains will remain well below potential. [2]
🗳️ CM Murad Opens Sindh's First Engineered Landfill, World Bank Backing Secured
Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah inaugurated Sindh's first engineered landfill site in a ceremony marking what officials described as a step toward modernizing Karachi's waste management. The Rs 14 billion project is backed by the World Bank and is expected to generate approximately $20 million in carbon credits over its operational life. CM Murad used the occasion to call for an additional 100 million gallons per day of water supply for Karachi, linking the city's infrastructure gaps across waste, water, and sanitation as interconnected challenges. Energy Update reported that the landfill initiative is designed to handle a portion of the city's daily waste volume in a controlled, engineered environment that reduces leachate and methane emissions compared with open dumpsites. Officials framed the project as a foundation for a more systematic approach to Karachi's solid waste sector. Environmental advocates welcomed the landfill's opening but noted that engineering a compliant disposal site addresses only one part of the problem: collection rates, informal sector integration, and waste reduction upstream remain unresolved. The World Bank support brings both financing and technical oversight to a project that previous administrations had planned but not completed. [5]
🎉 Ninth Sindh Literature Festival Returns to Mohatta Palace in November
The ninth edition of the Sindh Literature Festival will be held at the historic Mohatta Palace in Karachi on November 21 and 22, 2026. The dates and venue were announced on the festival's official Instagram account, inviting audiences to a two-day gathering at one of Karachi's most prominent cultural landmarks. The festival, established in 2016 by journalist Naseer Gopang, has become a recurring event dedicated to Sindhi literature, indigenous languages, music, history, and the arts. The Express Tribune reported that previous editions have featured panel discussions, book launches, poetry recitals, theatrical performances, and conversations covering language and education, heritage, environmental concerns, and the Indus River. The festival's official website describes its mission as creating space for established and emerging writers to interact with readers while encouraging dialogue about Sindh's social, cultural, and intellectual life. The ninth edition continues the initiative after a string of successful gatherings, the fifth of which was notably covered by the Tribune. The festival is organised by the Sindh Literary Foundation and draws participants from across the province and beyond. For attendees in the diaspora visiting Karachi, the November dates offer a cultural anchor during the typically busy autumn travel season. [6]
52-Day-Old Infant Dies of Mpox in Karachi
A 52-day-old boy who had been receiving treatment for mpox died in Karachi, according to reporting by UA.NEWS citing Dawn. The death of an infant so young drew attention to Pakistan's ongoing mpox caseload at a time when health authorities across South Asia have been monitoring the spread of the virus. Karachi, as Pakistan's largest city and a major transit hub, has been among the locations where mpox cases have been recorded. The infant's death underscores the particular vulnerability of newborns and very young children to mpox complications, including secondary infections that can arise in immunologically immature patients. Health officials have not released detailed information about the source of transmission in the infant's case. Pakistan's mpox response has included enhanced surveillance at entry points and in clinical settings, though community-level awareness of the disease and its transmission routes remains uneven. The case was reported through Dawn, one of Pakistan's leading English-language newspapers, and republished internationally as part of ongoing coverage of the global mpox situation. Families of young infants in Karachi have been advised to consult healthcare providers promptly if skin lesions or fever develop. [3]
Sources: [1] Arab News PK · [2] The Express Tribune · [5] Energy Update · [6] The Express Tribune · [3] UA.NEWS