HYDERABAD: Sindh Assembly members and district organising committee representatives on Wednesday condemned the increase in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices and the rising number of rabies-related deaths.
Speaking at a joint news conference at the local press club, MPAs Sabir Kaimkhani and Nasir Qureshi, along with Javed Qureshi, said that although winter had yet to begin, LPG was being sold in the market at exorbitant rates of Rs550 to Rs650 per kg against the official rate of Rs280, and that the civil administration had failed to curb the overpricing.
Mr Kaimkhani said that while the federal government fixed LPG prices, it was for the civil administration in each district to ensure their implementation, which was not being done. He alleged that LPG outlet owners were selling at exorbitant rates because officials concerned were taking money from them to allow them to operate in the wake of the 2024 Paretabad tragedy. The price rise, he said, had multiplied the economic miseries of consumers.
He expressed concern over increasing cases of dog bites and rabies-related deaths in the city despite the administration of rabies vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin (RIG). He demanded compensation for the heirs of those who had died of rabies, most of them children, and said hospitals lacked the facilities required to deal with rabies cases.
He urged the Sindh chief minister and the health minister to pay attention to the issue. If the vaccine was substandard, he said, it should be replaced and an inquiry held. The Sindh government had earlier announced a project to neuter stray dogs, but to no avail. He also drew the attention of health authorities to dengue, which had claimed scores of lives in Hyderabad alone last year, and said fumigation must be carried out immediately in all areas of the city.
Mr Kaimkhani said the price of flour had risen to Rs180 to Rs200 in the retail market. The Sindh government, he said, had taken different decisions on fixing wheat release prices before backtracking, allowing middlemen to profit. Officials facing National Accountability Bureau (NAB) charges had been placed at the helm, he alleged, and Rs65 billion of public money had been lost.
He said the Sindh government should release wheat to bring down flour prices in the open market, and urged the prime minister to allow the private sector to import wheat as well, to overcome the shortage and ensure the sale of cheaper flour.
He criticised a letter written by the deputy commissioner on a flyover project proposed by the MQM and to be executed by the Pakistan Infrastructure Development Company with federal funding, but made it clear that the flyover would be built at Labbaik Chowk, Latifabad, as proposed. People’s representatives knew more about projects of public importance than an officer posted here for a limited period, he said.
MPA Nasir Qureshi criticised PPP representatives, saying they would have to face Benazir Bhutto in the hereafter while representatives like him were answerable to God. He said Liaquat University Hospital (LUH) did not have a dedicated ward for rabies cases, and that the people of Hyderabad should not be left at the mercy of a corrupt bureaucracy.
Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2026
