Karachi (HRNW) — Former federal secretary, former caretaker provincial minister and Chairman of the Policy Research and Advisory Council (PRAC), Muhammad Younus Dagha, has said that approximately Rs160–170 billion has been spent on waste collection and management in Karachi since 2017, yet the city continues to face serious sanitation and waste-related problems.
According to Younus Dagha, more than Rs190 billion has been spent across Sindh since 2017 on garbage collection and road cleaning, including allocated funds. In Karachi alone, the expenditure is estimated at between Rs160 and Rs170 billion.
He said the amount spent on Karachi’s waste management over the past decade exceeds the financial support provided to several major provincial projects, including the BRT Red Line, BRT Yellow Line, K-IV Water Supply Project, Safe City Project, Karachi’s road network and the Right Bank Outfall Drain.
Despite the substantial expenditure, Dagha said waste disposal remains one of Karachi’s major urban problems. Vacant plots continue to be used as informal dumping grounds, while door-to-door garbage collection remains limited or unavailable in several areas.
He further said garbage can still be seen along roads, open spaces and around drains. The existing waste-management system includes door-to-door collection, road sweeping, transportation of waste to transfer stations and landfill sites, provision of dustbins and compactors, deployment of sanitation workers and GPS-based monitoring.
Dagha also claimed that the performance of waste-management contractors has not been independently verified through third-party verification since 2017. He said Auditor General of Pakistan reports from 2018 to 2025 identified several issues, including payments made without third-party verification, non-recovery of penalties, staff shortages and excess payments.
Human Angle
Poor waste management directly affects the health, environment and daily lives of millions of Karachi residents. The continued sanitation problems despite substantial public expenditure raise questions about transparency, monitoring, service delivery and accountability in the use of public funds.
HRNW Support Appeal
Human Rights News Worldwide (HRNW) works to promote human rights, civil liberties, justice and human dignity worldwide. Support HRNW’s mission:
Disclaimer
This report is based on statements and figures attributed to Muhammad Younus Dagha. Expenditure figures, audit observations and claims concerning waste-management contractors should be verified against official government records and audit reports. Any alleged irregularities should not be treated as a final finding of wrongdoing without due legal or administrative determination.
