HYDERABAD: MQM-P parliamentarians have called for handing all ongoing development works in Hyderabad to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), alleging record corruption across city institutions and accusing the ruling PPP of mismanaging billions of rupees in public funds.

Speaking at a joint press conference on Tuesday, MNA Abdul Aleem Khanzada and MPAs Sabir Kaimkhani and Nasir Qureshi delivered a sweeping indictment of civic administration in the city, targeting the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC), town municipal corporations and union committees, where they said grand announcements had produced little visible progress on the ground.

“Quality is not being ensured in development works and people are raising serious questions,” Mr Khanzada said, demanding independent audits of all funds and full public disclosure of project expenditures.

The lawmakers cited a string of specific allegations. They claimed that a single national flag and its fittings at an undisclosed site had cost Rs70 million — a figure they described as grotesquely inflated. They alleged that a traditional malakhro (wrestling) ground in Qasimabad had been converted into D-park, with millions embezzled in the process. They also raised irregularities in spending at Niaz Stadium, where funds had reportedly been utilised without transparency.

The MQM members held PPP accountable for what they described as Rs21,000 billion in financial mismanagement, and separately alleged Rs130 billion in corruption in wheat procurement. They said the HMC, despite holding a development portfolio of Rs5 billion, had delivered virtually nothing.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2026