CJP gives a week to clean Karachi

CJP asks authorities to spread awareness among the people of Karachi on where to dispose garbage

KARACHI: The Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar was visibly angry on Saturday at the abysmal litter and unhygienic situation in Karachi and ordered for the entire city to be cleaned up within one week.

The CJP was hearing the report of the Water Commission at the Supreme Court (SC)'s Karachi Registry, and during it, he questioned whose job was it to keep the city clean and why the courts are doing Karachi Mayor’s job?



Justice Nisar also asked Sindh's chief secretary if he had any reservations on the Water Commission’s report.

In his reply, the chief secretary said he had not read the report and requested time to read it. The CJP granted this request and adjourned the court till next weekend.

When the CJP inquired whether Mayor Wasim Akhtar was in court, Akhtar stood up and said that all administrative powers lie with the Sindh government. The chief secretary told the court that Karachi has trash worth 4.5 tons lying around. The CJP then said that Akhtar was correct and that this was the DMC’s job, as they come under the Sindh government.

The chief secretary told the court that the work is underway to pick up the litter and a computerised system has been made to monitor this. The CJP in turn, questioned, "If the system was up and running, then why wasn’t it fully functional?" To which the chief secretary replied that there were four bodies responsible for picking up the litter in the city.



The CJP, in his remarks, urged them to spread awareness among the people of Karachi on where to dispose garbage.