According to a report by the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP), Bahria Town Karachi (BTK) and the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) have ‘illegally’ taken over 785 kanals of public land along the Karachi-Hyderabad (M-9) motorway.
The AGP discovered the above while investigating the National Highway Authority’s (NHA) financial affairs.
The M-9 is a six-lane, 136-kilometer-long motorway that connects Karachi with Hyderabad. The motorway, built between 2015 and 2018 by extending the already-present Superhighway, also accommodates commercial traffic from Karachi Port and Port Qasim.
Auditors discovered that BTK had used 491-Kanal land for the interchange’s development without the consent of NHA and without signing a leasing arrangement with it. Similarly, DHA built an intersection and access road on NHA’s land/right of way at M-9 Karachi using approximately 3 km of public property (on either side of the M-9).
Auditors advocate for an investigation to determine responsibility and collect dues per NHA policy.
The report said that the auditors raised this issue in May-June 2021 but received no response from NHA. Despite numerous attempts, according to the report, the departmental audit committee did not meet to review this audit item.
Via: Dawn
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