KARACHI, May 22: Lyari Town has purchased 5,000 street-lights for illuminating various roads and streets.

Speaking a news conference, Town Nazim, Abdul Khaliq Juma, said here on Thursday that each of the 11 UCs would be provided 375 sets of lights for electrifying roads and streets.

Lyari Town’s Naib Nazim, Malik Mohammad Khan Awan and Town municipal officer Afaq Saeed were also present.

The major roads which would have street-lights in the working order soon included Shah Waliullah Road, Mirza Adam Khan Road, Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai Road, Tannery Road and Sheedi Village Road.

Regarding development schemes, he said that the renovation work of five parks — Bagh-i-Lyari, Chacha Baba Park, Mujahid Park, Ibrahim Soomro Park — was progressing at fast pace while the town was also constructing five community centres, besides carpeting and repairing six roads.

Regretting that the CDGK had not undertaken any developmental work in Lyari, the Nazim demanded of the city government to reconstruct two abandoned projects of Lyari — Khadda Market and Chawkiwara market — to make them functional.

Dispelling the impression that Lyari Town’s revenue recovery position was poor, the Nazim said residents of the town from July 2002 to April, 2003, had paid Rs 12.2 million under the head of water charges; over Rs 2.7m (sewerage charges); over Rs 2.4m conservancy charges and over Rs0.8m as fire tax.

At the outset, Mr Juma said that Lyari Town being most populated town of the city and having a population of about one million with 11 union councils, was facing financial constraints in improving its sanitary and sewerage system and as such the town be provided adequate funds for improving the living condition of its inhabitants.

Speaking about Lyari’s lingering issue of water, he complained that Lyari was getting hardly 8mgd per day as against its quota of 13 mgd.

On the one hand, Lyari was being supplied only 2 mgd as against its share of 6 mgd from the pipeline which was laid from the COD to Lyari for improving Lyari’s supply position and, on the other a huge quantity of water was being wasted from a 24-inch dia obsolete pipeline, passing through Mirza Adam Khan Road.

He deplored that the water and sanitation department had not yet disconnected hundreds of illegal water connections which it had earlier provided from the 24-inch dia pipeline.

Moreover, the W&S department had made two interconnections — one of 8-inch dia and another of 12-inch dia — with the COD pipeline for diverting Lyari’s water to Quaid’s mausoleum, its park and also to Jinnahabad, he added.

The Town’s Naib Nazim, Mohammad Khan Awan, said in spite of deployment of rangers at pumping stations and major valve chambers, the overall water supply position in Lyari, particularly those situated at the tail-end has not yet improved.