IT was a week of important decision-making moments in order to make Karachi a smoothly managed city. For example, on Nov 6, 1976, an announcement was made through an official handout that the administrative jurisdiction of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC, now KE), had been transferred from the federal government to the government of Sindh. Sindh Irrigation and Power Minister Dur Mohammad Usto shedding light on the matter said the decision was taken in the best and larger interest of the KESC’s shareholders, consumers, employees, management and corporation. “In fact, with this transfer, their rights are more secure and assured.” He also pointed out that with the aforementioned shifting, the process of policymaking would be accelerated and the day-to-day issues of the KESC could be understood and solved with ease and efficiency. Mr Usto added, “The recovery position of the corporation which had steadily deteriorated in the past, will now definitely and necessarily improve with the assistance of the provincial government.”

Rumours about the handover of schools run by the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) to some other department were doing the rounds as well. The same day, on Nov 6, Minister for Local Government Jam Sadiq Ali assured the KMC teachers that no school run by the corporation would be handed over to any other department as the KMC was competent enough to manage those schools as per the national education policy. Speaking at an annual function of Rashid Minhas KMC School in Nazimabad, Mr Ali said imparting primary education in a progressive manner meant laying down of a solid foundation for effective higher studies and shaping young minds into better citizens. Referring to poor working conditions in some of the institutions, the minister claimed necessary improvement would be made at those schools within three months.

Better working conditions anywhere in the city required, among other things, an uninterrupted supply of water which was a scarce commodity at the time. On Nov 3, it was learnt that a study for developing a new source of water supply for Karachi had begun by the Karachi Master Plan and Environmental Control Department. The department was carrying out reconnaissance survey for locating an area in Thatta district that could be developed into a big lake. The lake would store water carried by monsoon floods from upcountry. The source, if successfully developed, would be linked with the city of Karachi through a new supply system. It was thought that the search for such a facility had become inevitable because the current supply of water from Kalri was sufficient for the city until 1985 — when the population of the Sindh capital was expected to be around seven million.

In a similar spirit of providing as many facilities to citizens as possible, on Nov 2, the Sindh Labour Minister, Abdullah Baloch laid the foundation stone for a dispensary at Dhabeji, 33 miles off Karachi. Speaking on the occasion, he said accommodation for the medical, paramedical and other staff of the dispensary — which was to start functioning in two months — would be made available to ensure round-the-clock service.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2026