KARACHI, Oct 18: The local chapter of the Pakistan People’s Party, on Saturday, deplored mounting unemployment, price hike and deteriorating law and order.

The PPP meeting, chaired by Haji Muzaffar Shujra, demanded that prices of all petroleum products and other essential items like flour, vegetables, etc., should be reduced as they were in August.

It also demanded that Lyari Expressway, Circular Railway and Mass Transit projects should be built on priority basis. The meeting deplored water scarcity in the city and demanded judicious distribution of water by eliminating the tanker mafia.

The participants said that Rs29 billion package for the construction of flyover, repairs of roads sewerage system during the next four years was a cruel joke with the people of Karachi, which contributed the most towards the exchequer. They demanded that the Rs121 billion Karachi package earlier announced by the PPP government should be revived.

The PPP members further demanded that budget allocations for the financially deficit towns should be enhanced. The meeting appealed to the Sindh High Court and the Supreme Court to take notice of the alleged forcible occupation of leased land by the army and navy. These lands belonged to the residents of goths in Malir, Gulshan-i-Hadeed, and defunct district West.

The PPP criticized and accused the KESC of fleecing the poor by installing faulty meters. The party members also express their concerned over law and order.