KARACHI: Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that approximately Rs1,000 billion is needed for the development of Karachi every year.

Talking to a delegation of the National Press Club Islamabad at the CM House on Saturday, he said that a World Bank study conducted by the provincial government had revealed that $3billion was needed to make Karachi a liveable city.

“Although the required funds are substantial, around Rs1,000 billion should be spent on the development and reconstruction of city’s infrastructure,” he said, adding that only Rs218 billion had been allocated for the city’s development due to resource constraints.

The Islamabad-based journalists met the CM after they visited various districts of the province, including Thar, Sukkur, and Gambat.

Slams defunct city district govt for allowing encroachments on footpaths, drains

To a question, Mr Shah that under the defunct city district government of Karachi, embankments of main nullahs were allotted and whatever space was left was allowed to be encroached in the past. “As a result, the cleaning of the nullahs became a serious issue, and the city kept submerging during heavy rains,” he added.

Furthermore, Mr Shah pointed out that commercial activities were allowed on the footpath, where hundreds of shops were set up. “The important roads that needed to be kept non-commercial were made commercial by allowing the establishment of commercial markets and centres, resulting in traffic congestion becoming another issue,” he added.

The chief minister said that the provincial government had developed the BRT Orange Line, and work on the BRT Redline was in full swing, followed by the Yellow Line. “Karachi is a metropolitan city, and we are committed to our people and would resolve all its issues,” he vowed.

Mr Shah said that Sindh was the only province which had constructed three bridges on the River Indus, of them two in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. “The main roads, Karachi-Thatta, Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas have also been constructed in PPP mode,” he said.

Mr Shah said that the provincial government was building over two million houses for people affected by floods, with a budget of Rs600 billion.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the chief minister announced a grant for the National Press Club in Islamabad and instructed the provincial information secretary to submit a proposal outlining the purpose of the grant.

Provincial ministers Nasir Shah and Saeed Ghani and Information Secretary Nadeem Memon were also present.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2024