He was presiding over a meeting of 28 civic departments, including the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, K-Electric, Defence Housing Authority, Civil Defence, all cantonment boards, and law enforcement agencies (LEAs), at the Karachi Gymkhana on behalf of the city commissioner.
“Last year, the LEAs seized explosive-laden vehicles in Malir,” he said. “The encroachments by rickshaws, buses and taxis at the Quaidabad bridge had not been cleared and this is where the vehicles were reportedly prepared.”
Meanwhile, Korangi additional deputy commissioner Muhammad Waseem pointed out that whenever the district magistrates tried to remove the encroachments, the shopkeepers showed them KMC rent slips. “The KMC and district municipal corporations have rented out the pavements for extra charges,” he claimed.
However, when Khosa asked KMC officials about this, they could not offer any justification.
Charged parking
During the meeting, a Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) official revealed that they had identified 17 shopping plazas that were using parking spaces as godowns for storage.
“The KMC is unable to make Saddar a pedestrian zone because of the extent of illegal and triple parking in the area,” said Rauf Akhtar Farooqui, the KMC administrator, asking the traffic police to resolve this matter.
High-rise buildings
SBCA director Qazi Mumtaz Iqbal highlighted the lack of functional fire extinguishers and emergency exits in most of Karachi’s factories, shopping plaza and residential apartments. In response, the commissioner directed the officials of the civil defence department, the deputy commissioners and the fire department to visit the buildings in this regard and submit reports to his office as soon as possible.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2014.
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