Baqar holds civic agencies responsible for worsening living conditions in Karachi

Sindh Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar brought together under one roof all the civic agencies, provincial as well as federal, on Friday and directed them to resolve their pending mutual jurisdiction-related issues and mend their ways so that the plight of the city in terms of provision of water, cleanliness, fixing of overflowing gutters, repairing of dilapidated roads, streets, footpaths and streetlights could be improved.

“Karachi is one of the largest cities of the world, but our civic agencies have left no stone unturned to deface it,” he said and added that the agencies responsible for providing civic services in the city “keep fighting on the jurisdiction issues and the condition of the city keeps deteriorating day by day, which is intolerable”.

Baqar made these observations while chairing a meeting at the CM House. The meeting was attended by Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab, Secretary Finance Kazim Jatoi, Secretary Local Government Manzoor Shaikh, Secretary Works Nawaz Sohoo, Karachi Commissioner Saleem Rajput, Secretary Transport Asad Zamin, the DGs of KDA, LDA, and MDA, the chief operating officer of the Karachi Water & Sewerage Corporation, deputy commissioners, representatives of cantonments boards, KE, and the MD of the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board.

The CM said no civic agency was working in the interest of the city and its people and in the garb of the jurisdiction issue they keep passing the buck to each other when asked about their performance. “The roads are dilapidated, walkways are under encroachment, water is stolen, transport is not properly regulated, people have no water to drink, gutters are overflowing, solid waste system is not working, streetlights are out of order, encroachment is a big issue,” he said and added that the agencies and district administrations had to resolve these issues.

District East Deputy Commissioner Altaf Shaikh told the CM that his district has four subdivisions – Ferozabad, Jamshed Quarters, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Gulzar-e-Hijri. Almost all the subdivisions have issues of street lights, open manholes, road patching, garbage lifting, out-of-order pumping stations, and choked or broken sewerage lines.

The issue of incomplete work on the KCR route also came under discussion, which has created traffic issues for the people. The CM directed the secretary transport to talk to the contractors to complete the work.

Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab told the CM that Scheme 33 had no sewerage system and was deprived of facilities such as carpeting of the roads and walkways. The CM directed the mayor and the town concerned to improve the condition of Scheme 33, saying that at least the lifting of garbage and regular sweeping should be ensured. He directed the mayor to get a scheme worked out for providing all the facilities, including water and sewerage for Scheme 33.

It was pointed out that the work on the construction of the Red Line has created a mess in the entire area from Malir Cantt to Hassan Square. The entire road is dug up and traffic jams have become a serious problem. To this question, the CM was told that the revised PC-I of the Red Line project had been sent to the federal government for approval from the ECNEC. ECNEC has caused delays; therefore, the project has become an issue for the residents of the areas.

At this, the CM directed his principal secretary to talk to the Planning Commission and he would also write a letter to the prime minister with the request to facilitate the people of the area by approving the PC-I.

DC West Ahmad Siddiqui gave a presentation to the CM. The District West has three sub-divisions-Manghopir, Mominabad and Orangi where the condition of main roads, streets, footpaths, street lights, manholes and drainage lines needs a lot of improvement.

The TMC Mominabad has nine Union Committees and all of them need a sewerage system, de-silting of drains, and streetlights, covering of manholes, repair of link roads, and repair/construction of paver blocks. The TMC Oragni has eight UCs, and the TMC Manghopir has 16 UCs that need similar facilities.

All the nine pumping stations of TMC Mominabad are working but TMC Orangi’s two pumping stations, out of four, are functional. TMC Manghopir station is under construction. The performance of the Solid Waste Management Board in the district was termed unsatisfactory, and the CM directed the SSWMB to work properly and keep sending him their progress reports.

The CM was told that the towns had the authority to collect property tax and licence fees. At this, the CM directed the towns to improve their financial position and start delivering to their residents.

Karachi’s water utility COO told the CM that the Lyari pumping station faced severe loadshedding; therefore, the disposal of wastewater remained a challenge. He disclosed that when the KWSC requested the KE to declare the Lyari pumping stations free of loadshedding, in turn the KE sent them a bill of Rs90 million to ensure an uninterrupted power supply to these water installations. At this, the CM directed the KE to resolve the issue and report to him.

The DCs of West and Keamari districts told the CM that their districts were facing an acute shortage of water. To a question, the COO of the water utility Asadullah Khan told the CM that Manghopir Road was being constructed by the federal government, but due to funding issues, the work had been left incomplete. He added that due to the stoppage of the work water lines have not been laid. At this, the mayor said that the project would cost Rs2 billion and if the amount was given to KMC he would not only lay the water lines but construct a two-kilometre incomplete portion of the road. The CM directed the secretary of finance, the secretary of local government and the mayor to sit together to resolve the issue and report to him.

Baqar suspended the services of the Town Municipal Commissioner of Baldia Town, Imdad Shah, for his deliberate absence from the meeting and ordered the transfer of TMC Mauripur Javed Qamar for his failure to improve the conditions of his area.