PHOTO: EXPRESS
KARACHI: Marking the launch of the month-long Clean My Karachi drive on Saturday, Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah directed the divisional administration to remove encroachments from under flyovers, impose fines on builders found to be disposing of debris on roads and arrest those who throw trash on the city's roads. He issued these directives while visiting different areas of Karachi to review the progress of the ongoing cleanliness drive aimed at ridding the city of heaps of garbage marring its beauty.
"People will not stop dumping trash and debris [on roads] until they are fined," the CM said, during his more than five-hour long visit of the metropolis. Sindh CM, accompanied by his cabinet members and Mayor Karachi Wasim Akhtar, visited all six districts of Karachi.
South District
He began his excursion from Shireen Jinnah Colony, where he asked the Karachi commissioner to take action against the builder responsible for dumping debris on the road leading to Dr Ziauddin Hospital. He ordered the commissioner to ask the builder to remove the debris. "If the debris is not removed by tomorrow, stop the building's construction and impose a heavy fine on him [the builder]," he said.
Next, coming across overflowing gutters on a road nearby the Aga Khan Laboratory in Clifton Block 2, the CM ordered the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) officials to clean the area by Saturday night or be prepared to face the consequences.
Korangi District
His next stop was Qayyumabad, in Korangi District, where Federal Minister Ali Zaidi also joined him. The CM inspected the garbage lifting activities in the area, while locals appreciated the CM's efforts to clean the city.
Proceeding to Korangi no. 1 and T&T Colony, areas where garbage is dumped from different areas of the Karachi, the CM listened to the residents' grievances and directed the Korangi district deputy commissioner to remove encroachments from main roads and work towards improving the drainage system in the localities, with the assistance of KWSB.
East District
After Korangi, CM visited Sohrab Goth and Jamali Pul in East District, where a temporary GTS has been set up. While inspecting cleanliness activities in these areas, he issued necessary directives to the administration, particularly with respect to removing heaps of garbage emitting a foul smell near Al-Azam Square. He asked the East district deputy commissioner to ensure that no trash is thrown along the roads and to set up a kachra kundi for the locals to dump their trash in.
Central District
He ended his visit in Central District, where he inspected garbage lifting activities in Liaquatabad and other localities. He directed the district commissioner and the District Municipal Corporation (DMC) Chairman to set up a temporary GTS.
Residents of the area informed the CM that when the trash is burned, foul smell and clouds of smoke abound the area. At this, he directed the administration to cover the temporary GTS and then burn the trash.
SSWMB performance
Meanwhile, speaking to the media during his tour of the city, CM said that Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) had been set up to help local bodies and use garbage for power generation and production of urea. Giving updates regarding it, he said that the establishment of a power plant was underway.
He said that when SSWMB was established, the city was generating 8,000 tonnes of garbage, out of which DMCs used to lift only 4,000 tonnes of garbage. As a result, garbage continued to accumulate in the city, he explained.
Sindh CM said that at present, 16,000 tonnes of garbage is produced in Karachi and, while DMCs, along with SSWMB, regularly lift waste from different areas of the city, garbage continues to pile up. He informed the media personnel that several people had filed complaints against SSWMB, following which, the Water Commission too had raised question over its performance. Eventually, the provincial government had to stop paying its contractors, he said. Shedding light on the issue, he revealed that these developments had badly affected SSWMB's performance and the cleanliness activities had further slowed down during the elections. All these factors worked together to bury the city under piles of garbage, said CM Shah.
He claimed that after the drive ends, people will be able to see the difference.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 22nd, 2019.
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