KARACHI: Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah on Monday directed the city mayor to complete the Karamiabad and Munawar Chowrangi underpasses within one month and open them to the public.

The Karimabad Underpass, launched in May 2023 and originally slated for a 10-month build with an October 2024 opening, has been delayed for technical snags, causing a great deal of hardship for the commuters and shopkeepers in the area. The Munawar Chowrangi underpass project was also launched in 2023.

The chief minister, who presided over a high-level meeting to review the progress of Karachi’s development portfolio for the financial year 2025-26, was informed that the Karimabad Underpass project had achieved 85 per cent physical progress.

He was also informed that the Munawar Chowrangi underpass project was a Rs2.02 billion scheme, for which the government has released Rs300 million, and its physical progress had reached 75pc.

The chief minister reviewed the progress of the two underpasses and other projects being executed by the Karachi Development Authority (KDA), and directed that quality be maintained and traffic disruption be kept to a minimum.

Rs38.83bn allocated for Karachi, Rs13.15bn spent so far during current financial year, Murad told

He instructed the mayor to complete the underpass projects within one month and open them to the public.

He also expressed concern over slower progress in some newly approved projects in the city, and directed authorities to strengthen coordination between provincial agencies, district administrations and utility services to prevent delays and ensure smooth execution.

He directed the concerned departments to immediately complete procedural requirements so that physical work could begin on the ground.

“Approvals have been granted, and funds are available. Now the focus must be on delivery and visible results for the people,” he said.

According to a statement issued by the CM House, the meeting was attended by provincial ministers Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and Jam Khan Shoro, Special Assistant to CM Syed Qasim Naveed, Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab, Sindh Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Chairman Planning & Development Najam Ahmed Shah and Finance Secretary Fayaz Jatoi.

The chief minister was informed that Rs38.83bn had been allocated for Karachi, against which Rs22.36bn had been released and Rs13.15bn spent so far during the current financial year, while cumulative expenditure on these schemes has reached Rs33.94bn.

“Karachi is the economic engine of the province. Delays in development projects are not acceptable,” the chief minister said, stressing that utilisation of released funds must be improved and bottlenecks removed without further loss of time.

Agency-wise performance

The briefing at the meeting showed that KDA was executing 76 schemes with a cumulative utilisation of 72pc, while Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) was implementing 200 schemes with 46pc utilisation. Mega Karachi was handling nine major schemes with 62pc utilisation.

Mr Shah said that KDA had launched six new schemes: construction of roads in Scheme-41 Surjani, Scheme-36 Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Scheme-33 Gulzar-e-Hijri, and Scheme-5 Clifton for Rs2,876.250 million; construction and rehabilitation of different roads of Scheme-33, District East, for Rs1,987.470 million; construction of road from CP-03 to Malir Expressway through Malir River Road for Rs1,428.821 million; construction and rehabilitation of stormwater drain including road at I.B. Soomro Road, Maymar, for Rs1,350.994 million; and construction of Gujjar Nallah Flyover crossing Sir Shah Suleman Road, District Central Karachi, for Rs1,650.000 million.

He directed Local Government Minister Nasir Shah to get work started on all six new KDA schemes.

The chief minister reviewed the recently approved Rs13bn grant-in-aid for the rehabilitation of road infrastructure across 24 town municipal corporations and Rs8.53bn for the rehabilitation of 26 major roads in Karachi.

As part of the KMC’s development portfolio for 2025-26, the chief minister was briefed on several urban renewal and civic improvement schemes, including the development of the Old City area for Rs744.5 million and the improvement and development of various business areas with an allocation of Rs1.05bn.

The CM was informed that the Shahrah-i-Bhutto and Korangi Causeway Bridge near Qayyumabad, Korangi, was a Rs1,890.180 million project, for which the entire amount had been released, and the executing agency had utilised Rs902 million with the project achieving 68pc progress.

The chief minister directed the local government department to present an updated progress report in the next review meeting, with specific timelines and accountability for each major scheme.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2026