Development of roads, cleanliness first priority in Karachi package, says Iftikhar Shallwani

Karachi Administrator Dr Iftikhar Shallwani on Saturday said road development and cleanliness would be the first priority during his tenure. He was addressing a luncheon of the Korangi Association of Trade & Industry (KATI).

Shallwani said road development is the first priority of the administration in the Karachi package because it is the first attraction for investors. He said that a comprehensive map of Karachi would be prepared and all the roads and streets would be named after legendary personalities of the city.

He announced that 3000 Road of the Korangi Industrial Area would be named after KATI Patron-in-Chief SM Muneer. He also announced including maintenance and development of the road in Sector 15 in the Karachi package. He welcomed former KATI president Zahid Saeed’s pilot project proposal regarding urban foresting.

KATI President Sheikh Umer Rehan said that the biggest problem of Korangi is land grabbing in Mehran Town, adding that special powers should be granted to Korangi Administrator Shahryar Gul Memon, who is also the deputy commissioner of District Korangi, to resolve the problem.

He thanked Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah because, he said, the chief executive brought credible officers like Shallwani and Memon as administrators. He also announced presenting both men with gold medals on behalf of KATI.

KATI Chairman and CEO Zubair Chhaya urged the city administrator to remove the remaining garbage transfer stations in the EBM Causeway area because it was feared that the administrations of other districts could dump their trash or debris in these settlements.

Former KATI president Saeed briefed Karachi Administrator Shallwani about the proposal of urban foresting in the riverbed area of the Malir River and the Lyari River.

Shallwani directed the Korangi administrator to demolish the remaining garbage transfer stations in the EBM Causeway area. He also ordered closing the area for any kind of dumping.

The city administrator also welcomed the proposal of urban foresting. A multimedia presentation regarding the devastated road and sewerage system of Sector 15 and Sector 23 was also given to the administrator.

KATI Senior Vice President Muhammad Ikram Rajput, Vice President Syed Wajid Hussain, former presidents Danish Khan, Masood Naqi, Zahid Saeed, Gulzar Firoz, Farhan-ur-Rehman and others were also present on the occasion.

Three weeks ago, Prime Minister Imran Khan had unveiled the Rs1.1 trillion development package for Karachi to resolve its immediate problems arising from the recent catastrophic rains and its decades-old civic issues at the same time.

Both the federal and Sindh governments would contribute to the Rs1.1 trillion development package. The PM announced this while talking to reporters at the Sindh Governor House after his arrival in the city for the first time after heavy rains devastated a large portion of the city.

During different meetings, the premier discussed the civic, political and administrative issues of Karachi and the rest of the province. The PM also chaired a top-level meeting on the issues of the city.

Briefing the media, Khan said that such a strategy was being worked out that would help resolve the rain-related problems of the city and its decades-old civic issues at the same time.

He said that unprecedented rains in Karachi and elsewhere in the country had emerged as a major test for the government after the coronavirus emergency.

He said that a Provincial Coordination & Implementation Committee (PCIC) had been constituted to combine at one platform all the stakeholders, including the federal and Sindh governments, for the development and progress of the city.

He also said that with the presence of a supervisory body like the PCIC combining all the stakeholders, there would be no major hindrance in implementing the plan to develop Karachi and resolve its major civic issues.

He further said Karachi’s development had been hampered in the past in the absence of a unified strategy because various land-owning agencies existed in the city, including federal entities like the Pakistan Railways, which owned land in the provincial capital.

The PM said the PCIC would now ensure that the federal and Sindh governments are able to work for the development of Karachi without any issue of jurisdiction or land control.

He said the Sindh government would also contribute to the Rs1.1 trillion development package. He added that issues of solid waste disposal, mass transit, bulk water supply, drainage, sewerage and dilapidated road networks would be resolved in a maximum of three years under the development package.

He also said the civic issues of Karachi would be resolved under a short-term, medium-term and a long-term plan. Khan said the Karachi Circular Railway Project and the Bus Rapid Transit System would be developed under this package, adding that the federal and Sindh governments would work under a joint strategy for the purpose.

The PM said that a similar development package would be unveiled for the rest of Sindh, where heavy rains had caused massive destruction. He said Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had briefed him about the damages in cities and towns in the rest of the province due to heavy rains.