KARACHI: A row between the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and Karachi Development Authority over charged parking sites further deepened on Sunday day when the city’s municipal administration claimed that the KDA had nothing to do with the collection of charged parking fee.

Taking exception to an advertisement published by the KDA inviting bids for charged parking sites in different parts of the city, a spokesperson for the municipal administration stated that only KMC had authority to charge and collect parking fee in the city under the law.

However, KDA director general Sami Siddiqui told Dawn that the KDA had every right to auction charged parking sites in those schemes which had not so far been transferred to the KMC for municipal administration. “KDA is responsible for everything in these schemes, including construction of roads, parks and other civic infrastructure,” he added.

He further said that he had written a letter to the provincial government for deciding the administrative jurisdiction of all civic agencies to avoid overlapping of authority.

The KMC spokesperson said that the KDA had nothing to do with charged parking fee collection and only the KMC had authority to collect the fee in the city.

He clarified that that the KMC had been collecting charged parking fee on these sites for the past many years after inviting bids many a time before too. “Therefore, auction of these charged parking sites by the KMC was legal and final,” he added.

He cautioned the bidders against taking part in the auction of the charged parking sites by the KDA.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2019