Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Saturday blamed city planners for “ruining” Karachi, saying he watched the metropolis expand and decline while growing up there. He spoke at an event of the Sindh Master Plan Authority (SMPA), the provincial body that prepares urban master plans for Sindh’s cities.
Murad Ali Shah argued that drawing a master plan on a blank slate is straightforward, but repairing Karachi’s present condition is hard for consultants, planners and the agencies that must carry any plan out. He said no other city, in his view, had grown as fast as Karachi—or been spoiled by planners as quickly.
What he said went wrong
He described Karachi from the 1960s to the 1980s as a “very well-planned” city that drew foreign visitors, and said it now needs serious improvement. Recalling the heavy rains of 2020, he said that while travelling on a new dual carriageway from Yousuf Goth he saw shops along side roads, on stormwater drains beside the main road and even on the median.
Planners had done a “very good job” on that road, he said, but many city roads were later declared commercial. To give people a livelihood, he added, shops were allowed on stormwater drains for very cheap rent. He asked every stakeholder to help, warning that the city would not recover unless residents and institutions acted together.
He also said development often stalls when utility providers, including the water board, are slow to move, and that utility networks are not mapped: “There is no mapping anywhere.” Karachi’s population, he said, is about 25 million, and road works already disrupt daily life. Funds have been arranged to rework 143 roads, he said, yet procurement has kept the work from starting—a process he said can “take a lifetime.”
Master plans across Sindh
SMPA was set up under the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) in 1968 to draft urban master plans with input from stakeholders. At the event, the chief minister said 14 master plans had been finished, while plans for Karachi and Hyderabad were still being prepared. A CM House post, however, quoted him as saying master plans for 17 cities were complete and work on 14 others was in final stages. Those two tallies do not match, and it is not clear from his remarks which figure he intended as current.
In July 2025, a steering committee on the Greater Karachi Regional Plan 2047 was told that a new master plan for the commercial capital would be ready within two years. Murad Ali Shah said SMPA forums and seminars matter for planning and delivery, and that mayors and divisional headquarters elsewhere are trying to copy development already under way in Karachi.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- 1968: SMPA is established under the KDA to prepare urban master plans for Sindh’s cities.
- 1960s–1980s: Murad Ali Shah describes Karachi in this period as “very well-planned” and attractive to foreign visitors.
- 2020: During severe rains, he says he saw shops occupying drains and the median on a dual carriageway from Yousuf Goth.
- July 2025: A steering committee for the Greater Karachi Regional Plan 2047 is told the new Karachi master plan would be ready within two years.
- Saturday (speech day): Murad Ali Shah blames planners for ruining Karachi, seeks citywide help, and says funded work on 143 roads has not begun because of procurement.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Sindh ke wazir-e-ala Murad Ali Shah ne kaha ke planners ne Karachi ko barbaad kiya. Unhon ne bataya ke sarakon ke naliyon par dukanein laga di gayi hain, jis se barish ka paani nikalna mushkil ho sakta hai. Unhone kaha 143 sarakon ke liye paise hain magar kharidari ke masail ki wajah se kaam shuru nahi hua. Aam logon ke liye matlab yeh hai ke sadakon, naliyon aur utility kaam theek hone mein ab bhi der ho sakti hai.
