• Opposition leader wants assurance power utility will not construct multi-storey plaza on 5,000 sq-yd plot located on Elander Road
• Lab test charges at KMC hospitals increased

KARACHI: Amid criticism by the opposition, the City Council on Monday approved allotment of a piece of prime land, measuring over 5,000 square yards, to the K-Electric at the rate of Rs275,000 per square yard.

A resolution to this effect was presented during the meeting of the City Council and it was passed with a majority vote.

Questioning the performance of the city’s sole power utility and benefit to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) from the property transaction, Leader of the Opposition in the City Council Advocate Saifuddin demanded an undertaking from the KE to use the land for the purpose it was required.

He said that the KE must be bound to not erect any commercial plaza on the land near Railway Quarters on Elander Road.

He said that the rate of the land should be revised as it was fixed in 2023. “The land should be allotted at the market rate and value so the KMC get maximum benefit,” he suggested.

Mayor Murtaza Wahab, who presided over the council meeting, said that the decision to allot land to the KE was made in light of directives issued by the Supreme Court, which had instructed both the KMC and KE to resolve the matter amicably.

“This resolution will facilitate improved electricity infrastructure and ensure KE’s cooperation in paying pending dues to the KMC,” he said.

The City council also passed 13 other resolutions through majority vote, while two received unanimous approval.

The house approved a resolution, lauding the Pakistan Armed Forces for their role in Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos and condemned recent aggression by India.

The council also approved a resolution proposing fines of up to Rs10,000 on illegal car washing in front of commercial centres and plazas and unauthorised use of water from water pipelines in nurseries.

Enforcement will be carried out by city wardens and anti-encroachment teams, with collected penalties earmarked for development work in the respective union committees.

The council passed another resolution to revise and increase charges for laboratory tests conducted at KMC hospitals.

It also approved new municipal taxes on wedding halls, banquet facilities, and ballrooms to enhance local revenue.

The house passed a resolution barring any conversion of parks into banquet venues or private enterprises, following recent controversies surrounding the use of public parks.

The Council also passed another resolution through which it delegated the authority to issue trade licences to UCs.

Other resolutions approved included public auction of obsolete KMC vehicles and scrap to fund development initiatives, scrutiny and auction of KMC-owned plots in Orangi Town for legal residential use.

Water crisis

Opposition leader Saifuddin came down heavily on the mayor, who is also chairman of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC), for the water crisis across the city.

He said that administration had failed to address the city’s worsening water crisis.

“There is no water in the city, yet the mayor talks of a long-term plan for 2050,” Mr Saifuddin said.

He alleged that the city’s water was being shifted elsewhere and claimed the cost of the K-IV project had ballooned from Rs20 billion to over Rs200bn, with no concrete completion timeline before 2027.

The mayor, however, told the opposition leader that that this was not the time for blame game.

“We are addressing longstanding structural issues that have festered for decades,” he said, adding that the K-IV project was now federally managed, and the provincial government was coordinating closely to expedite progress.

Earlier, a large number of UC chairmen and councillors belonging to the Jamaat-i-Islami gathered in front of the KMC building to stage a protest against acute water shortage in the city.

Carrying placards and banners, the protesting Council members chanted slogans against the PPP government in Sindh as well as the mayor over their failure to addressing the genuine issues of Karachi.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2025