Sindh govt takes back decision to seal 11 UCs in Karachi as citizens panic

In a dramatic turn of events, the Sindh government came up with a clarification late on Saturday evening that not the entire 11 union committees (UCs) in District East of Karachi, where a large number of people had been diagnosed with COVID-19, were to be sealed and a complete lockdown would be imposed only on the respective streets of those UCs from where the COVID-19 cases had been reported.

Earlier, a notification was issued by the District East deputy commissioner’s office, which read that the entire 11 UCs that comprised areas of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Mehmoodabad, Lines Area, PIB Colony and Jamshed Quarters were to be sealed to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. As that notification caused panic among the people, the Sindh government issued the clarification.

Talking to a television news channel, Sindh Information and Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said only the affected localities in the 11 UCs of District East would be under a complete lockdown.

According to the minister, a major issue would emerge in case an entire UC was sealed. He said the East deputy commissioner had been asked by the Sindh government to take the corrective measures.

Only those streets would be sealed where people affected from coronavirus were present, Shah clarified. He said sealing the entire UCs would create serious problems.

He added that the Sindh inspector general of police (IGP) had also clarified that only some particular streets in District East would be completely shut after they were identified by the relevant authorities.

The IGP had said that the police force would only be deployed in such streets after their identification by the DIG and East deputy commissioner.

Later, Shah also took to Twitter and said that it was the foremost priority of the government to prevent the cases of COVID-19 from rising, however, sealing the entire UCs was not a practical solution.

He clarified on Twitter that only those streets would be sealed where patients of coronavirus were living.

Panic in Distrist East

Residents of District East of the city had to face massive confusion and chaos on Saturday after the office of the East deputy commissioner (DC) issued a notification to seal 11 union committees (UCs) of the district to contain the spread of COVID-19. However, the order was taken back after Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah later intervened in the late hours of Saturday and said only those streets would be sealed where patients of COVID-19 were living, adds Oonib Azam.

Before the clarification came from the minister, there was a lot of confusion regarding which areas were to be sealed because the East DC’s notification had referred to the UCs with their old numbers that are no longer valid as the territories of many UCs were changed in the last demarcation after which the UCs were assigned new numbers.

The total number of population in these 11 UCs is 774,704, of which the Faisal Cantonment area, which also falls under them, has the highest number of 98,668 individuals.

Panic ensued in the district when DC Ahmed Ali issued a notification at around 4pm which read that due to the recent confirmed reports of individuals infected with the novel coronavirus residing in UC-6, UC-7, UC-8, UC-9, UC-10, UC-12, UC-13, UC-14, UC-2, UC-9 and UC-11 of District East, those UCs would be sealed forthwith under the Sindh Epidemic Disease Act 2014 in the larger public interest.

“Moreover, Karachi police and Rangers are required to cordon off mentioned areas to ensure public safety,” read the notification, which was issued after the number of cases in the district rose to 149.

Later, a director the local government department, Muhammad Ishaq, told The News that the names of the UCs mentioned in the notification were based on the old demarcations of the previous local government system and since the district administration and district health officers had not updated their data, they named the UCs, according to the old demarcation, which was no longer valid.

The East DC was not available for comments despite repeated attempts by The News. Not only the residents of District East but also the elected representatives of the local government in the district were baffled as the notification had referred to the old number of UCs.

For instance, one of the UCs mentioned in the order was UC-9, which is now UC-25 of Gulshan-II area. Moreover, not all the areas of the old UC-9 were included in the new UC-25 after the last demarcation, which means the areas of old UC-9 are now part of two or more UCs. It also means that had the local government minister not intervened, it would have become a cumbersome task for the law enforcers to interpret the notification according to the current UC numbers.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) elected chairman of UC-25 told The News about the confusion which the order of the East DC caused in the entire district.

“The order speaks of the old UC-9,” he said and explained that if the areas included in the old UC-9 were to be sealed, they would include Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 7 and Block 4 that are part of the new UC-26, and Block 3 and Block 6, which are part of the current UC-25.

Similarly, UC-13 which is mentioned in the notification is now actually, Safoora Goth’s UC-30. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman of UC-30 Ilyas Gabol shared with The News that he was unable to understand what areas of District East had to be sealed as per the DC’s notification.

“I am not exactly sure what areas were in the old UC-13, but my UC-30 is covering every area from Safoora Chowrangi towards Dow Hospital and then the Super Highway and also the Malir Cantt area,” he said.

The UC-6 mentioned in the notification is currently UC-22 which includes areas of Gilani Railway Station, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 13, University Road, Water Board Colony, Sir Shah Suleman Road and National Stadium.

The old UC-7 is now UC-23, includes Dalmia, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 10, Millennium Mall and their adjoining areas. Similarly, the UC-8 in the notification is no longer UC-8 as it has been changed to UC-24 which comprises Jamali Colony and Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 1, Block 2 and Block 3, Ziaul Haq Colony and adjoining areas.

The old UC-10 is now UC-27 of Pehalwan Goth. Its elected chairman of the MQM-P, Ehtiram-ul-Haq, told The News that all the area on the right side of University Road while coming from Nipa Chowrangi towards Safoora Goth falls under UC-27. He said had the notification been implemented, the entire Gulistan-e-Jauhar was supposed to be sealed.

As the numbers of UCs where Manzoor Colony and Jacob Lines fall were not changed in the last demarcation, there would have been no confusion regarding sealing the two localities that lie in UC-2 and UC-9 respectively. As panic ensued after the notification was issued, panic buying started in Gulistan-e-Jauhar town as some new channels aired the news that the entire town would be sealed.

The police and Rangers reached commercial points near the Darul Sehat Hospital and ordered the closure of shops at 5pm.

Later speaking to The News, an official of the commissioner office said that now only specific areas in these UCs would be sealed only, “not the entire UCs”.

No one would be allowed to enter or exit those areas, except for those providing essential services, such as law enforcers, doctors, paramedics or media persons.

Even when the Sindh local government minister had issued the clarification, many citizens of the district faced trouble as law enforcers deployed in the district were not updated about the new order. As they had started to cordon off some areas, residents had to take alternative routes to reach their destinations.

As per the data shared by the Directorate General Health Sindh, District East recorded the maximum 17 per cent of COVID-19 cases in the city from January 9 to April 2020 and the highest number of cases was reported in Gulshan-e-Iqbal of District East, followed by Saddar Town of District South.