KARACHI, PAKISTAN — Opposition parties in Karachi have united in a scathing critique of the city’s municipal administration, the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB), and the Pakistan Peoples Party-led provincial government, accusing them of “criminal negligence” that left Karachi a “garbage dump” during Eidul Azha.
The condemnation from Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) primarily focused on the delayed removal of sacrificial animal offal, which reportedly festered across the metropolis for three days.
JI-Karachi chief Monem Zafar spearheaded the criticism, holding the Sindh government and Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab directly responsible for the deplorable sanitation conditions. “Mayor Wahab makes tall claims, but the reality is visible on every street,” Zafar stated, highlighting that this is the second consecutive year of cleanup failure despite Wahab also chairing the SSWMB.
He lamented that citizens endured foul smells, clogged drains, and garbage-laden streets, arguing that the centralization of powers under the 18th Amendment deprived KMC towns of the authority needed for effective grassroots action. Zafar labeled the situation “deliberate mismanagement,” accusing the PPP of retaining administrative control while failing to deliver basic civic services, leaving Karachi “abandoned during Eid.”
At a press conference, MQM-P’s Opposition Leader in the Sindh Assembly, Ali Khurshidi, sharply criticized the city administration, asserting that “the Eid disaster has exposed the incompetence of the mayor.”
Khurshidi accused the SSWMB of handing out contracts without ensuring their implementation, creating a stark disconnect between reported and actual services. “We were told 96 collection points were set up, but the reality is that stench and filth dominate the cityscape,” he declared.
Alleging “widespread corruption” from town offices to union council levels, Khurshidi claimed Eid had become a “money-making season.” He also accused the JI of hypocrisy, stating that “Their town chairmen share equal responsibility.
JI conveniently blames the PPP while focusing solely on collecting animal hides for fundraising.” Khurshidi further alleged that Mayor Wahab is “extorting Rs225 million from Karachiites” via the Municipal Utility Charges & Taxes (MUCT) and is preoccupied with superficial projects like “whitening curbs with marble powder instead of addressing real issues.” He concluded by calling for “mega projects like the Karachi Circular Railway, not just hollow slogans.”
Echoing the strong condemnations, PTI-Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh lambasted the mayor’s Eid performance as “a complete failure.” Sheikh decried the “unbearable stench and filth” from animal offal on Karachi’s roads, asserting that the “so-called mayor, imposed through a stolen mandate, clearly has no concern for the city or its residents.”
He warned of potential health hazards and disease outbreaks from incomplete sanitation arrangements, urging immediate action. Sheikh also criticized the PPP for the city’s deteriorating state and dismissed “fake opposition leaders” as “silent spectators,” calling for urgent clean-up operations.
