KARACHI: City Council seeks action against park managers
KARACHI, July 26: The City Council was informed on Monday that the administration of the Aladdin Park had constantly been breaching the agreement signed in 1994 between the defunct KMC and the administration of the park.
Breaching of rules and regulations pertaining to maintenance of swings, wheeler-train, rides, etc., has resulted in a loss of precious lives, the recent one is the death of a child on July 18 in the park.
Qazi Saddaruddin, a member of the committee formed to look into the affairs of the park, told the city council that due to poor arrangements, three precious lives had been lost during the last one-and-a-half months.
There was no ambulance or doctor to give first-aid to victims till the visit of the members of the committee. But now the administration had provided a doctor and an ambulance, he said.
He said unfortunately lifeguard facilities are also not up to the mark as there is no special identification of lifeguards in the park. Attributing repeated incidents of deaths to the agreement between previous administrations of city and of the park, he said awarding of the contract for 25 years was a violation of rules and regulations.
Qazi informed the members of the council that the inquiry committee had prepared its report and had proposed that conditions be improved at the park in the larger interest of citizens.
He disagreed with a member that the city government was doing nothing to put an end to this situation, adding appropriate steps were being taken. Tariq Hasan, convener of the council, asked the committee to submit a copy of the report with the city council so that it could be discussed and a strategy could be chalked out to put an end to this situation after a thorough debate in the session.
He also suggested formation of a committee to look into the affairs of Play-Land Clifton and to ensure whether the administration was acting as per criteria besides ensuring certification of the maintenance firm to avoid any untoward incident at this recreational spot.
Shamim Mumtaz Wasi, a woman member of the council, demanded that a thorough probe be initiated into the affairs of Aladdin Park as to why such tragic incidents were happening in that park only.
Najmi Alam drew the attention of the house towards illegal hoardings on New Clifton Road, which were giving an ugly look to the area and were in violation of outdoor advertising bye-laws.
He demanded legal action against the advertisers and officials involved in it. Zahid Saeed, a member of the council's hoarding committee, said a big mafia was involved in illegal hoardings and the city government was unable to take action due to certain legal compulsions.
The council members also discussed water and sewerage situation in the city and criticized the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board for its failure to redress water problem in the city. -PPI
