Karachi Pays the Bills. Sindh Holds Power. Is It Time for New Administrative Units?
Opinion
This is written by Erzah Ather.
Imagine having a big share in paying the family’s bill and having no point justifying how your money is spent. Living in the city as big as Karachi, residents struggling with the basic management and needs as clean streets and waste management has become a norm.
Karachi, which is said to be the economic heart of Pakistan yet struggles with garbage piles, blocked drains and poor waste collection, the situation raises an important question. How can a city of more than 20 million people continue to face such problems despite billions of rupees spent on sanitation?
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A city that contributes so much to Pakistan's economy should not struggle for basic cleanliness. The garbage crisis is the proof. According to information presented to the Sindh Assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in October 2026, the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) has an annual budget of Rs 28 billion, including Rs 24 billion spent on collecting garbage in Karachi alone. Officials also claimed that 10,000 to 12,000 tons of waste are collected every day.
Lawmakers noted that system has earned no money and made electricity from the city’s rubbish. Karachi produces about 95% of the taxes collected in Sindh but received only Rs 680 billion for infrastructure over 16 years which is barely 3% of what it contributes. The money given to local governments fell from 16 percent of the provincial budget in 2011-12 to 5.6 percent today. Sindh government always says that Karachi is at the heart of Sindh and will always be a priority. The situation becomes more concerning when we look at how the waste management system is being run. Sindh Assembly’s Public accounts committee raised concerns about the failure to earn revenue from recycling and lack of waste-to-energy arrangements. Officials mentioned agreements for recycling projects but their actual results still needed to be established.
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Now the failure to implement waste management makes the need for smaller administrative units even clearer. During the October 2026 PAC proceedings, serious questions were raised about the implementation of the Sindh Solid Waste Management Act, 2021. The committee questioned why the required divisional waste management boards had not been established and why the necessary rules remained incomplete. The law has said to be provided with the separate bonds in major divisions including Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpur Khas and Shaheed Benazirbad. The delay in implementing these arrangements has raised concerns about administrative performance and asked for more accountability but instead of asking for and waiting for decisions from higher authority each area should have responsible officials who understand its problems and are answerable for results.
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The time has come for Sindh to move beyond the political arguments and seriously consider the creation of Sindh administrative units for better governance. The conclusion is clear, when a city pays the bills but cannot control its own streets, drain and budget, giving it real power is not a threat but a fix.
The path is not easy but taking the initiative for smaller administrative units will solve the problem caused by weak coordination and unclear responsibility. Sindh needs a system closer to its cities and people for better governance, public funds should be openly monitored so that public representation and improvement in distribution of resources is judged.
The formation of administrative units shouldn’t be seen as a threat to Sindh’s identity but as a fix and solution and should be discussed as an opportunity to improve the lives of its people. People of Karachi deserve a say and that a clean, well-run city is a goal everyone can agree on. The arguments end here that Sindh or any city official never needed and will never need the justifications and promises form the same system but accountable administrative units. Real power is the want and need of Sindh so that governance becomes a service rather than a privilege.
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This article has been shared by Erzah Ather.
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