Letter to be sent to PM over unannounced loadshedding in Karachi, says mayor

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s city council passed 14 resolutions, including a resolution for the approval of a settlement between the KMC and K-Electric regarding the Railway Quarters located on Alland Road, proposing to resolve the matter at the rate of Rs275,000 per square yard for the 5,142-square-yard plot.

Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab chaired the city council session of the KMC general council on Monday, joined by Deputy Mayor Salman Abdullah Murad and Municipal Commissioner Syed Mohammad Afzal Zaidi.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Karamullah Waqasi said that the dispute between the KMC and K-Electric had been ongoing for a long time. “We had also discussed this matter with our opposition,” he added.

The Jamaat-e-Islami's Saifuddin Advocate said that they have several outstanding issues with K-Electric. He said that one of the key concerns is the matter of dues that K-Electric owes to the KMC. "In one way or another, we are benefiting K-Electric," he said, adding that the power utility is also gaining significantly from the MUCT (Municipal Utility Charges and Taxes) being collected alongside KMC. Moreover, K-Electric’s poles are installed across various major roads in the city.

Responding to this, Mayor Wahab said that when they took over Karachi’s affairs, this matter was already pending in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, he said, had directed that the mayor and the chief operating officer of K-Electric sit together and resolve the issue.

The land in Kharadar is claimed by the KPT, which says it belongs to the KMC. The Alland Road land, he said, had been with K-Electric for a long time.

K-Electric, he said, transfers the MUCT amount to us every one and a half months. "I will present further details during the budget session," he said, adding that they are now in a position to pay K-Electric’s bills ourselves. "Previously, we had to request funds from the Sindh government, which were deducted from the OZT (Octroi Zila Tax). This money belongs to the city and should be given to K-Electric. We still stand by our claim and are trying to set things right."

He urged the prime minister to bind K-Electric through Nepra and the Power Division. He said that he would write a letter to the prime minister regarding unannounced loadshedding in the city.

Another resolution was passed regarding imposing fines on individuals washing vehicles on roads, streets, and in commercial centres, as well as those using water from water corporation pipelines in nurseries. Wahab said that a fine of Rs 10,000 is appropriate." Fines should be imposed by the Encroachment Department and City Wardens based on complaints from the Union Committee Chairmen," he said, adding that one hundred percent of the collected fine amount will be spent within the respective Union Committee. The Union Committee chairman will identify locations where illegal activities are taking place.

Among other resolutions were paying tribute to the Pakistan Army for its successful Operation Bunyan Marsoos. Other resoultions included approval of the number of KMC committees, delegation of authority to issue trade licences to union committees, revision of laboratory test charges at KMC hospitals, division of a plot in Orangi Township, with part allocated to the Pakistan Post and the rest designated for auction or public-private partnership, approval to accept open market bids for items that received no offers during the Stores Department’s auction, implementation of tax collection from wedding lawns, banquet halls, and ballrooms outside cantonment areas, acceptance of successful bids for commercial plots in Orangi Township operation of KMC abattoirs under a public-private partnership model, management of KMC parks through rental or public-private partnership arrangements, a resolution condemning Indian aggression and unlawful actions. The session highlighted the KMC’s ongoing commitment to transparent governance, improved public service delivery, and support for national institutions.

JI protest

A large number of union committee chairmen and councillors belonging to the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Monday staged a protest demonstration in front of the City Council against acute water shortage and other crises in the megalopolis, and decried what they called the discriminative behaviour of the Karachi mayor, adds our correspondent.

The local government representatives were carrying placards and banners, and chanted slogans against the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) government in Sindh as well as the mayor over their failure to address the longstanding issues of Karachi.

The leader of the opposition in the City Council, Saifuddin Advocate, said the JI had decided to hold agitation on roads. He said there would be no respite in the agitation until and unless the rights to Karachi and its residents were not granted.

He said the JI would launch the final phase of the Karachi Rights Movement after Eidul Azha to topple the PPP government with the help of the people of Karachi. He said the JI’s struggle would continue till its logical conclusion. He added that the PPP had been ruling over the province through the worst kind of rigging in elections, whereas the mayor himself was a paratrooper who was placed in the office as a result of the worst kind of fascism and rigging.

He said the PPP was directly involved in water terrorism in the city and wanted to destroy the peace of the city under a designed conspiracy. On the one hand, the megacity had been facing water scarcity, and on the other hand, bestowing 5,000 acres of land to the K-Electric was on top of the mayor’s agenda, he alleged.

Quoting the managing director of the water corporation, the JI leader said the K-IV project was expected to be completed in 2027, yet it would not ensure complete water supply to Karachi. He said that all the institutions in the city had been corrupted to their core and held the PPP responsible for their destruction.