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CM orders action against littering as campaign to clean Karachi kicks off

By Our Correspondent
September 22, 2019

During his visit to various areas of Karachi to monitor the provincial government’s cleanliness drive on its first day, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday directed the divisional administration to remove encroachments under the flyovers of the city, impose fines on builders who threw debris on the roads and arrest those who were found throwing trash on the roads.

The CM remarked that those dumping debris and trash on the roadsides would only be deterred from doing that when fines were imposed on them.

Shah was accompanied by his cabinet members, the mayor and others during the over-five-hour-long visit to all the six districts of the city. The chairmen of the District Municipal Corporations and senior superintendents of police received the CM as he arrived in their respective districts.

South

The CM started the visited from Shireen Jinnah Colony where he asked the Karachi commissioner to direct a builder to remove the debris that had been dumped on the road leading to Ziauddin Hospital. “If the debris is not removed by tomorrow, stop the construction work of the building and impose a heavy fine on him [the builder],” he told the commissioner.

The CM also noticed that manholes were overflowing on the road where the Aga Khan Lab is situated in Clifton Block 2. He directed the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) to resolve the issue by late night or else the engineer concerned would face the music.

At Shireen Jinnah Colony, the CM visited a temporary garbage transfer station (GTS) where garbage lifted from District South was being dumped to be transported later to landfill sites.

Korangi

From District South, the CM and his team visited District Korangi. They oversaw the cleanliness work in Qayyumabad where garbage was being lifted. Federal Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Zaidi was also present there.

Shah also monitored the cleanliness work in Korangi No 1 and T&T Colony where garbage collected from different areas was being dumped. He also met people present there and listened to their grievances.

He directed the Korangi deputy commissioner (DC) to remove encroachments from the main roads and improve the drainage system with the help of the water board.

East

After District Korangi, the CM and his companions went to District East where they visited Sohrab Goth and the Jamali Pul area where a temporary GTS has been set up. The CM inspected the work and issued necessary instructions to the administration. He directed the East DC to ensure that no trash was thrown on the roads.

He issued instructions to create Kachra Kundis in the district so that people could throw their trash there.

Central

During the tour of District Central, the CM visited Liaquatabad No 10 where he was received by DMC Central Chairman Reham Hashmi and the Central DC and. Shah witnessed the garbage lifting work in Liaquatabad.

He also visited a ground and directed the DMC chairman and DC to turn the plot into a temporary GTS. Residents of the area told the CM that they usually set garbage on fire to dispose of it but it spread foul smell and smoke in the area.

Media talk

Talking to the media, the CM said that the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) was established to help the local bodies and use garbage for power generation and production of urea. He added that a power plant in that regard was being set up.

He said when the SSWMB was established, the city was generating 8,000 tons of trash, of which the DMCs used to lift 4,000 tons and that resulted in a huge backlog which went on multiplying day

by day.

Talking about the current situation, Shah said the city was generating 16,000 tons of garbage and the DMCs were working with the SSWMB to lift garbage but the backlog was still there.

Responding to a question, Shah said when he saw that the SSWMB and the DMCs had failed to clear the backlog of waste, he decided to intervene.

He said the new cleanliness drive he had launched would be vigorous and continue for 30 days, after which the people would witness the difference.

Talking about the backlog of garbage, the CM said people had earlier started filing applications against the SSWMB, therefore the Supreme Court-mandated judicial commission on water and sanitation raised a number of questions against its performance, after which the provincial government stopped the payment to its contractors.

He added that the performance of the SSWMB was affected during the three-month period of the general elections. All these factors contributed to the current garbage mess of the city, he said.

To another question, the CM said the federal government-backed cleanliness drive could have only 23,000 tons of garbage dumped at the landfill sites, whereas the SSWMB lifted 13,000 tons of waste daily.

He said he would be monitoring the garbage lifting work every day and he had also assigned the monitoring work in this connection to his ministers and the mayor.