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Mayor Karachi has raised serious concerns over road cutting, delays in rehabilitation work and demanded urgent action to resolve the issues in the metropolis.
Mayor Karachi, Barrister Murtaza Wahab, penned down a letter to the Provincial Minister for Local Government, Saeed Ghani, expressing concerns about towns allowing road cutting within KMC limits and collecting fees but failing to carry out repairs afterward, worsening public inconvenience.
The mayor stated that roads across Karachi, including major arteries and internal streets, were dug up by utility service providers, against which proportional amounts under “Road Cutting Charges” have also been paid to the respective TMCs.
However, despite receiving large amounts from these charges, repair and rehabilitation of the dug-up roads have not been carried out by the responsible towns, leading to decaying infrastructure, Wahab added in the letter.
The situation has been made worse by recent heavy rains in Karachi, which have caused additional damage to already dilapidated roads, the mayor said.
Mayor Wahab mentioned that the issue was previously raised with Chief Minister Sindh, Murad Ali Shah, with a recommendation that road-cutting funds be used strictly for repairs, but no visible progress has been seen so far.
He further pointed out that towns have overstepped their jurisdiction by collecting road cutting fees even from areas falling under KMC authority.
Wahab urged the provincial minister to immediately issue clear directives to Municipal Commissioners of all towns to resolve the road repair delays and to ensure accountability in fund usage.
He emphasized that the collected amounts must be spent on the repair and rehabilitation of roads, not diverted elsewhere, so that public inconvenience can be reduced in the shortest time.
