HYDERABAD - The Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC) fired 207 sanitary workers appointed without a sound justification and lawful procedure in May 2023, a month before Mayor Kashif Ali Shoro assumed the charge. According to an office order issued by Municipal Commissioner Anees Ahmed Dasti on Friday, the said appointments were made without obtaining approval from the Sindh Finance Department on a ‘contingency’ basis. He underlined that the work of collection and disposal of the solid waste was handed over to the private contractor of Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) in 2021 after which the HMC no longer required a large workforce of sanitary workers. “The financial position of HMC is critical and the council is already overstaffed,” the order reads, referring to the payment of wages to those 207 staff. The sacked employees will be paid 30 days advance wages besides their pay for the previous month.