{
  "id": 19094641,
  "title": "High cost of crumbling infrastructure in Karachi",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/high-cost-of-crumbling-infrastructure-in-karachi",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-11-09T01:34:28.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dawn Business",
    "slug": "dawn-business",
    "url": "https://www.dawn.com/news/2043198/high-cost-of-crumbling-infrastructure-in-karachi"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "For Karachi's industrial workers, the daily commute is no longer just about distance, but endurance. Muhammad Ali begins his day an hour early to reach his 8am shift at a pharmaceutical plant in Nazimabad, but his 6km final leg is twice as long due to potholes and gridlock. In Korangi Industrial Area, refinery worker Ishtiaq Ali spends four hours daily navigating construction and broken roads. Crippling infrastructure and traffic bottlenecks have turned going to work into an exhausting ordeal for the city's industrial workforce. This strain isn't limited to workers, as heavy vehicles transporting goods also suffer from endless gridlock. The dilapidated roads are not just a nuisance, but directly impact profits through increased fuel costs and damaged cargo. Beyond the commute, industrial zones in Karachi face sanitation issues, water shortages, ineffective waste disposal, and deteriorating drainage networks, adding to the businesses' challenges. Industrialists are questioning whether essential public services can keep pace with the economic importance of these hubs. At a recent meeting, representatives from trade bodies and industrial town associations voiced their concerns over the economic cost of civic mismanagement, which is driving up production costs and undermining competitiveness. They urged for urgent, coordinated action to rescue Karachi from its deepening civic and economic crisis. Despite the Sindh government allocating Rs9 billion for urgent road repairs and infrastructure maintenance in Karachi's industrial areas, progress has been slow. The CEO of Korangi Industrial Trading Estate highlighted the insufficient allocation for comprehensive infrastructure improvements. Industrialists blame institutional incompetence, weak accountability, and administrative failures for the city's longstanding problems. They demand timely project completion, improved coordination, and oversight for effective service delivery. While the Sindh government is taking steps, without timely progress on infrastructure projects, workers will continue to face long commutes and industries will suffer from cost and time overruns in transporting goods.",
  "summary": "For thousands of Karachi’s industrial workers, the daily commute is less about distance and more about endurance. Muhammad Ali leaves his Baloch Colony home an hour before his 8am shift at a SITE area pharmaceutical plant. While he can zip 14 kilometres to Nazimabad in 15 minutes via the Karsaz corridor, the final 6km crawl to his factory takes twice as long, choked by potholes and gridlock.…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}