Karachi Division

According to the representative correspondent of SyedShayan.com, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has said that key development initiatives underway across Karachi are aimed at improving urban services and strengthening the provincial economy. The senior minister stated that nine major projects worth seven billion and sixty six crore rupees are progressing across the city. He added that seventy six schemes under the Karachi Development Authority and two hundred under the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation are also underway, along with multiple projects led by the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation and the Lyari Development Authority. The Hub Canal and Dumlottee water projects are expected to be completed within a year, enabling the supply of ten MGD of water to the Defence Housing Authority. Highlighting developments in the education sector, Sharjeel Inam Memon said that construction and rehabilitation work is in progress on one thousand two hundred and eighty educational units under one hundred and thirty schemes, with more than one billion and eighty eight crore rupees already released. Flood affected schools across thirty districts are also being rehabilitated, while twenty girls schools in five districts have been upgraded with support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Under ongoing reforms, one hundred and seventeen new secondary schools are being developed with the support of the Asian Development Bank, and thousands of teachers have received training. He added that several schools have been upgraded with eco friendly improvements and digital monitoring systems. The senior minister said that timely completion of water, sanitation and infrastructure projects remains a priority, with seven hundred and fifty six schemes included in the development programme for the fiscal year twenty twenty five twenty twenty six. In the previous year, four hundred and twenty four schemes were completed across the province. Sharjeel Inam Memon concluded that these initiatives reflect the government’s commitment to improving urban facilities and raising the quality of life for residents.

The Sindh government has ordered a high level inquiry into alleged financial irregularities and procedural violations in the Karachi Development Authority, where development contracts exceeding eleven billion rupees were reportedly awarded without the mandatory public tendering process. The investigation, initiated on the directives of the Sindh Chief Minister, is being jointly led by the Minister for Local Government, Nasir Hussain Shah, and the Minister for Planning and Development, Jam Khan Shoro. The decision follows accusations that the KDA sidestepped established procurement rules while awarding multiple major works. One of the projects under review is the Karimabad Underpass, where the cost is said to have risen from an initial estimate of seven hundred million rupees to three billion and eighty one crore rupees. The escalation has raised concerns regarding transparency and fiscal oversight. The inquiry committee has been tasked with examining all consultancy and development contracts above the notified threshold and identifying instances where procurement procedures were not followed. In a related effort to improve transparency and curb future malpractice, the KDA is introducing a modern computerised management system for its land and recovery departments. The system is expected to be linked with the NADRA biometric verification mechanism to reduce fraud and safeguard property ownership records. The inquiry comes at a time when the KDA has been allocated two billion and eighty nine crore rupees for new development schemes, despite longstanding concerns over project delays and the authority’s administrative capacity. Provincial officials have stated that the investigation aims to ensure accountability and strengthen governance mechanisms within the organisation.