Commission seeks details of DMCs’ expenses, budget

LG dept secretary ordered to submit these details by February 2

KARACHI: A judicial commission directed on Monday provincial local government (LG) department's secretary to submit details indicating the strength of staff, budget and expenses incurred by all district municipal corporations (DMCs) across Sindh on the management of solid waste in past five years.

Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro sought such details by February 2, when the issue will be taken up once again. He is heading the inquiry commission into the allegations of non-provision of clean drinking water and deteriorating sanitation conditions in Sindh on the orders of Supreme Court.

During Monday's proceedings, provincial LG department's local secretary, Muhammad Ramzan Awan, filed a statement in compliance of the commission's previous order, seeking an immediate working plan for lifting and disposal of solid waste in Sindh. Justice Kalhoro directed him to submit further details, indicating the total strength of employees in all DMCs, expenses incurred on their salaries, the amount spent on managing solid waste in Karachi and other parts of Sindh. He also asked the secretary to submit a copy of the budget books of last five years, along with other details, by February 2.

Growing number of high-rise buildings

Earlier, the commission had taken up the issue of mushrooming growth of high-rise or multi-storey buildings. Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) and the cantonment boards were allegedly issuing building approval plans for these, without seeking no-objection certificates (NOCs) regarding the availability of basic amenities, such as clean drinking water and proper sewage system from Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB).

KWSB managing-director Misbahuddin Farid, who had blamed the SBCA, the Defence Housing Authority and the cantonment boards of approving such building plans illegally, filed a statement along with other documents. On the other hand, SBCA's director-general Noor Muhammad Leghari and additional director Agha Maqsood Abbas filed a statement, along with other documents, on the issue whether any NOC was taken from the KWSB before approving building plan for these buildings.

The officials claimed that under the Sindh Building Control Ordinance, 1979, and Karachi Building and Town Planning Regulations, 2002, the SBCA was not required to obtain any such approval from the water and sewerage utility. The officials referred to the judgment of Sindh High Court that had allowed the SCBA not to require any such NOC from the water and sewerage utility for the issuance of building approval plans. Leghari insisted that the authority was approving building plans in accordance with the relevant laws.

At the stage, the KWSB chief and representatives of Karachi, Clifton, Korangi and Faisal cantonment boards suggested holding meeting with each other. They suggested that they can devise a strategy together and make a plan or proposal to ensure that an adequate framework or scheme is properly chalked out and executed to address the issue of drinkable water and sanitation, before approvals are granted for construction of any high-rise or multi-story buildings.

Meanwhile, Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan chairperson Mohsin Shaikhani and senior vice-chairperson Muhammad Hassan Bux, who appeared on commission's notice, maintained that they had been taking NOCs from the KWSB and other related authorities before getting approval for construction high-rise buildings. The commission asked them to submit a comprehensive statement in this regard and granted them time, on their request. The additional advocate-general Muhammad Sarwar Khan sought one-day time on behalf of the provincial chief secretary, to submit a report in this regard.

Meanwhile, a resident of Clifton, Dr Safar Ali Abbasi, also approached the commission against the mushrooming growth of high-rise buildings in Clifton, saying that it was leading to serious water, sanitation and environmental problems. The prime locality is gradually being converted into a slum like situation, he claimed. He pleaded the commission that the SBCA should be directed to withdraw the illegal NOCs it had granted to such buildings and stop any constructions on the plots in the neighborhood.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2017.