Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has launched an urban operation to eliminate illegal collection of parking fee while initiating the cancellation of land found to be illegally rented in the Orangi Township project.
Following the announcement of free parking all over the city by Mayor Murtaza Wahab and subsequent directives from Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, KMC launched a crash against illegal collection of parking fees. Since the launch of the initiative, three FIR’s have been registered in connection with the illegal fee collection, including at Kharadar Police Station on July 10 after Citizen Complaints; At Bahadurabad Police Station on July 28 after a Raid from the City Guards; And at Boat Basin Police Station on July 29, when guilty was caught red -handed.
Wahab has called on citizens not to pay parking costs and report such incidents to KMC Helpline 1339. He has also instructed the city’s Warden Department to deploy teams in designated free parking spaces and to carry out regular patrol to ensure compliance.
Separately, KMC has initiated the cancellation of over 320 illegally rented plot in the Orangi Township project after an internal investigation was ordered by the mayor.
The inquiry revealed that a number of plots were rented without a proper process during the term of office of the then project director Rizwan Khan. In 2019, 26 reasons for a single individual were awarded, while 180 others were issued to members of the same family and close employees. Current Project Director Faisal Rizvi also submitted a report that identified over 500 irregular allocations in total, including 80 previously identified and 320 discovered in the latest phase.
The cancellation process has begun, with related cases forwarded to the Director-General Anti-Corruption for Litigation.
