Karachi:
The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has disbursed RS11.9 billion to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and several municipal corporations of the city (TMC) for the reduction of roads and rehabilitation during a period from July 2024 to June 2025.
The gas utility was under fire of political and civic circles to dig up roads to sit the pipes, however, SSGC sources said the company had made a timely disbursement of the mandatory road cutting charges.
It was the repos of the Morbosos Morboso and the city to use these funds justly, they said.
According to the data, published by the SSGC, the gas profit made the highest payments of RS3.55 billion to TMC North Karachi and TMC North Nazimabad. TMC Model Colony received the second highest payment of RS2.10 billion. Other payments included RS1 billion to TMC Lyari, RS7.3 million to TMC Jinnah and RS6.2 million to TMC Malir.
The data also revealed that TMC Saddar and Chensar each received RS260 million, while TMC Landhi received RS210 million. The SSGC paid RS490 million to KMC for road reduction and restoration work. The lowest amount of RS0.227 million was paid to TMC Gulshan.
Despite these mass disbursements for a total of more than 11 billion, roads through Karachi remain in poor condition.
Interestingly, SSGC never issued a single letter of protest to any TMC for not restoring roads, or its legal department signed any binding agreement before releasing such a large amount.
The sources also revealed that SSGC did not obtain any formal TMCS guarantee that the roads would be rebuilt after payments.
However, due to public indignation after recent downpours, SSGC has now initiated the process of writing protest letters to KMC and the TMC in question, questioning why road works have not been completed despite receiving the great payments.
SSGC’s nesters expressed concern, saying: “If the company protest aggressively or takes legal actions, they can face complications to acquire road reduction permissions in the future of these municipal organizations.”
