The executive engineers and assistant engineers of the Hyderabad Water and Sewerage Corporation (HW&SC), who oversee water filtration, supply, and drainage systems, have collectively relinquished their offices. In a letter addressed to Mayor Kashif Ali Shoro on Monday, the Joint Officers Action Committee of HW&SC warned that they will not return to work unless certain officers, including Chief Executive Officer Tufail Ahmed Abro, are removed.
Mayor Kashif Ali Shoro, meanwhile, told The Express Tribune that he will not bow before such pressures and expressed his full support for CEO Abro and other officers whose removal has been sought. He believes this protest is unlikely to affect the city's water supply and drainage services.
The letter, signed by 22 officers of the corporation and addressed to the mayor, stated that "the appointments of the present CEO, Chief Human Resource Management Officer (CHRMO), Chief Operating Officer (COO), and retired officers are highly questionable and lack transparency." It further criticised that the appointment orders have never been made public, rendering the entire process doubtful and unlawful.
CEO Tufail Ahmed Abro was appointed on April 7, 2025, by the outgoing CEO Syed Shujaat Hussain, following the recommendation of HW&SC's selection committee. Hussain also issued notifications of appointment for CHRMO Naeem Shoro and COO Dr Tanveer Hussain on April 7 and 8, respectively. All three were appointed on four-year contracts.
"It is unprecedented to see an outgoing CEO appointing a new CEO when the former himself was appointed by a [provincial] secretary," said an anonymous HW&SC official while speaking to The Express Tribune. The officers' committee also voiced serious concerns over the pay and emoluments these three officers are entitled to, calling it an "unbearable financial burden" on the corporation.
Currently, the CEO is drawing Rs600,000 per month, the CHRMO Rs400,000, while the COO, who resigned in August, was paid Rs500,000 monthly. The CEO also uses a rented Toyota Fortuner vehicle, the rent and fuel costs of which run into hundreds of thousands of rupees every month.
"A senior HW&SC officer was drawing less than Rs200,000 per month when working as CEO, but now an outsider lacking relevant job experience is getting more than three times that amount," lamented an official. The officers' committee accused the CEO and CHRMO of appointing more outsiders on deputation within the corporation.
On September 19, BPS-18 Engineer Imtiaz Ali Zardari assumed the position of Manager Commercial Qasimabad, and BPS-18 Abid Hussain Shaikh took charge as Staff Officer to the CEO. The former was earlier posted at Municipal Committee Bolhari in Jamshoro district, and the latter at Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KW&SC).
The committee also expressed frustration over the hiring of several other contractual staff and the advertisement of five legal aid vacancies, despite the corporation already receiving services from lawyers for many years. The letter concluded, "under such unlawful and financially disastrous circumstances, we are left with no option but to collectively relinquish our charges in protest."
Mayor's Version
Mayor Kashif Ali Shoro contended that the CEO's appointment fulfilled all legal requirements and had been sanctioned by the HW&SC's governing body. "For the first time, these competent officers have increased the number of consumers by 6,000 in a few months, and for the first time, salaries were paid from recoveries," he said.
Shoro also credited the CEO and his team for paying electricity bills from recoveries. "A mafia wants to bury the corporation," he commented, asserting that the CEO and his team are working hard to improve HW&SC's financial health so that employees can be paid salaries regularly, and other expenditures can be met.
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