JI town chairman says KMC collecting billions but ‘cannot afford manhole covers’

The chairman of Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town, Dr Fawad, has alleged that the city’s municipal authorities and the Water Corporation have collected billions of rupees in taxes and charges but “do not have the funds to place manhole covers”.

Speaking to reporters, Dr Fawad claimed that the Water Corporation had collected Rs20 billion while the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) had received Rs4 billion in taxes through utility bills. “Yet they say they do not have money to install manhole covers,” he said.

He added that neither resources nor powers were being provided to the town administration.

“Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town has spent crores of rupees on sewerage works and replacing manhole covers,” he stated.

Dr Fawad also criticised the condition of University Road, saying the stretch—under KMC’s jurisdiction—had become “a death trap for citizens” due to ongoing construction work for the Red Line BRT project.

“Before it is too late and we are left to express regret, all local government representatives must join hands and begin a collective struggle,” he said.

The town chairman called for Karachi to be placed under a single authority, arguing that the current system involving multiple agencies was worsening the city’s problems.