DRAFT — Cable theft knocks out 33 Karachi traffic signals

• Suggested slug: karachi-cable-theft-traffic-signals-offline
• Category: National
• Focus keyphrase: Karachi traffic signals cable theft
• SEO title: 33 Karachi Traffic Signals Out After Cable Theft
• Meta description: Cable theft has left 33 of Karachi’s 94 traffic signals dysfunctional, with repairs stalled by funding shortages and thieves targeting even monitored Red Zone sites.
• Tags: Karachi, traffic signals, cable theft, KDA, traffic congestion, Safe City
• Original element: explainer context — the verified funding and payment timeline (Rs10m contractor dues, Rs100m release after CM’s directive, seven repaired signals re-damaged) drawn across the source’s reported facts, plus the local angle of named affected intersections
• Source: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2635643/cable-theft-leaves-traffic-signals-dysfunctional (Tribune, published 19 Oct 2026, 06:59 PKT)
• Story date: 19 October 2026

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KARACHI: The theft of cables and equipment has left 33 traffic signals dysfunctional across Karachi, worsening congestion on major roads and adding to the daily difficulties of commuters in the country’s largest city.

After targeting iron railings around parks, playgrounds and roadsides, suspected drug addicts have now turned their attention to traffic signals, damaging critical urban infrastructure, according to the Karachi Development Authority’s Traffic Engineering Bureau.

Scale of the breakdown

The bureau says 94 traffic signals are installed across the city, but repeated thefts have left more than a third of them out of order. An Express Tribune survey found that traffic police personnel often resort to manually controlling traffic at intersections where signals are not functioning, though officials are sometimes absent from these locations too. The poor condition of roads, with several stretches damaged and broken, compounds the problem.

Cameras installed along major roads have largely been used for issuing traffic challans and monitoring violations, rather than identifying those responsible for damaging public infrastructure.

The funding deadlock

Traffic Engineering Bureau sources said repairs had been suspended for over a year because of funding shortages, with more than Rs10 million in contractor payments outstanding. The Sindh government then allocated funds to the Karachi commissioner’s office for repairs, lane marking and road signs.

Using those funds and the bureau’s technical support, 20 signals were repaired, including five automated ones. But cables were subsequently stolen from seven signals, including locations in the Red Zone monitored by surveillance cameras, forcing them to shut down again.

The affected locations included Ziauddin Road near Lily Bridge, Boat Basin Chowrangi, the Sir Syed Khalid bin Walid Road intersection, Akbar Road, Court Road and Singer Chowrangi. Cables on Ziauddin Road were reportedly stolen on three separate occasions.

At Boat Basin, a private security guard foiled an attempt to steal a newly installed road sign. Bureau sources said police had repeatedly been informed about the thefts but had taken no effective action.

A police officer, speaking anonymously, said Safe City cameras were monitored through a centralised control room and used for traffic enforcement, tracing stolen vehicles and monitoring suspicious activity in Red Zone areas. District police can obtain footage through formal requests, while community policing cameras installed with private donations are monitored at local stations. The officer said footage could help identify the culprits, blaming police negligence for the lack of action. The South district police spokesperson sought a day to comment but did not respond to subsequent calls.

26 more locations offline

Bureau sources said signals at another 26 locations were dysfunctional because of cable and equipment thefts, including Makki Masjid, Yaseenabad, Atrium Mall, Karachi Grammar School, Shahrah-e-Iraq, Albela Chowrangi, Guru Mandir, Banuri Town Mosque, I.I. Chundrigar Road near Denso Hall, Aram Bagh and Shalimar Chowk.

Ghaus Bakhsh Abbasi, project director at the Karachi commissioner’s office, confirmed the rise in cable thefts, saying cases had been registered and the commissioner had taken up the matter with senior police officials. He said repairs had been delayed by the funding shortage at the bureau, but that following the chief minister’s directives, the Sindh government had released Rs100 million to the Karachi commissioner’s office, enabling the repair of 20 signals, lane marking and sign installation.

A request for additional funds to repair the remaining faulty signals has been submitted to the provincial government, he said.

A familiar pattern

The signal crisis fits a pattern of civic infrastructure struggling under theft and funding gaps in Karachi. The city has faced widespread fire-safety noncompliance in its buildings, while efforts to modernise surveillance, such as Quetta’s 2,900-camera security project, show how heavily effective systems depend on both equipment and maintenance.

Traffic management itself remains a contested area. The courts have weighed in on traffic administration before, including a ruling on the transfer bar for the traffic wardens cadre, while civic projects such as the Karachi IT park have repeatedly stalled at the tender stage.

For now, Karachi’s commuters are left with manual traffic control at darkened intersections, waiting for the repair cycle to outpace the thieves.