HYDERABAD, April 17: Sindh Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Khan Mahar on Thursday promised to make efforts for providing better facilities for the devotees visiting the shrine of sufi poet- saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, including making the shrine’s compound centrally-airconditioned.

The province’s chief minister was speaking at Bhit Shah after inaugurating the three-day Urs of the poet-saint.

Earlier, the chief minister inaugurated the Urs ceremonies by laying a wreath and Chadar on the Mazar of Sindh’s greatest Sufi poet as well as offering Fateha there.

The chief minister also visited the Mazar of Shah Habib, father of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai.

Upon his arrival here, the chief minister was received by Sindh ministers, Naeem Ishtiaque and Shabbir Qaimi, MPAs Dr Irfan Gul Magsi and Syed Jalal Shah Jamote, secretary for culture and tourism Hameed Akhund, secretary for Auqaf, Ushr and Zakat Faseehuddin Khan, Hyderabad district Nazim Dr Makhdoom Rafiquzaman and others.

Mr Mahar later distributed clothes among the widows and poor people at the shrine and launched a booklet published by the provincial Auqaf department.

The chief minister also visited various stalls set up here in connection with the agro-industrial exhibition here.

Stressing the need for maximising the conservation of irrigation water, the chief minister advised the on-farm management department to focus on precision land levelling in this regard.

Mr Mahar, while expressing environmental concerns, urged officials of the forest department to accelerate its tree plantation drive to save the environment, saying that deforestation had taken a heavy toll on the province’s ecological balance.

Calling for a tree plantation campaign, he said that the forest department should make an all out effort to increase community participation in this regard.

Besides visiting the Memon Charitable Hospital in Hala, Mr Mahar also met with various delegations at the Bhit Shah Rest House.

Meanwhile, financial adviser to the Sindh chief minister Aftab Ahmed Shaikh laid a wreath on the Mazar of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai.

Later, talking to journalists, Mr Shaikh said that Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad had been unable to come to Bhit Shah for the inauguration ceremonies because of some emergency.