Gas utility has paid Rs11.9bn to various towns, KMC, KDA and cantonment boards for excavating roads in their jurisdiction to lay new lines • This amount is enough to restore dug-up city roads twice-over, says chief of contractors’ association KARACHI: Although the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) claims to have paid Rs11.9 billion in advance to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, town municipal corporations and cantonment boards for permission to lay underground lines, most of the dug-up roads in the metropolis remain in a dilapidated condition, with no repair work having been carried out by the concerned civic bodies. Sources in the SSGC said that the gas utility had made payments to the KMC and TMCs before the road cutting for laying infrastructure of its distribution network, which had become old and corroded, leading to heavy gas leakages. They said that the details of the payments disbursed to the KMC and TMCs for road digging and restoration (copy of which is available with Dawn) had been sent to Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab, who had blamed the gas utility and the TMCs for the city’s crumbling roads. According to SSGC data, the highest payment — Rs3.55bn — was made to TMC New Karachi. TMC Model Colony received the second-highest payment of Rs2.10bn, while TMC Lyari received Rs1bn. TMC Jinnah was paid Rs737 million and Rs625m to TMC Malir. TMC Saddar and TMC Chensar each received Rs260m, while TMC Landhi was paid Rs210m. The SSGC paid Rs490m to the KMC for road-cutting and restoration works. The lowest amount of Rs227,000 was paid to TMC Gulshan. The utility has also paid over Rs51m to the Karachi Development Authority, Rs166m to Cantonment Board Korangi and Rs96m to Cantonment Board Karachi A spokesman for the gas utility said that the purpose of paying the “Road Restoration Charges” to the competent authorities was to financially assist the local governmental authorities in reinstatement of roads and other infrastructure, damaged during the different level of pipeline construction activities. “SSGC after seeking written permission / NOCs from each of the respective civic authorities, made advanced payments for road cutting / reinstatement / restoration charges,” he added. Karachi Contractors Association chairman Syed Naeem Kazmi told Dawn that Rs11.9 billion was a huge and more than sufficient amount for the restoration of dug-up roads. “Double of the dug-up roads can be repaired and restored with such a huge amount,” he claimed. The SSGC spokesman said that the gas utility would continue to plan and execute these rehabilitation projects of its pipelines network as part of its broader strategy to modernise its infrastructure. He said that over the years, considerable part of SSGC’s gas distribution network had become old and corroded, leading to heavy gas leakages. “With an objective to minimise consumer complaints from residents of such areas, the SSGC has constantly been upgrading its gas distribution network by executing a comprehensive rehabilitation plan in which the age-old metal-based gas pipeline network has been / is being replaced with the best international practices of PE [polyethylene] pipes, which is a strong and thin plastic material,” he added. The spokesman said that the SSGC had embarked upon a massive rehabilitation drive of overall distribution network across its franchise area. “In FY2024-25, the company has laid more than 2,500km distribution network (as compared to 1,700km during FY2023-24) in Sindh to improve the gas delivery pressures generally around the cities / towns and specifically improving the delivery of gas at the tail end of the network,” he added. Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2025