KARACHI: 55 given magisterial powers to check prices
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Sept 8: City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal has said that over 55 officials of the city government have been invested with magisterial powers to check and control prices of essential commodities during Ramazan.
All the 55 officers had been empowered to award six-month imprisonment and fine up to Rs15,000 to those traders who would found guilty of charging exorbitant prices than those fixed by the city government’s enterprise and investment promotion (E&IP) department, he added.
He was briefing newsmen on Friday about the measures taken by the city government to stabilize the prices of essential commodities during Ramazan and overcome the problems surfaced in the aftermath of recent rains. DCO Fazalur Rehman, KWSB’s deputy managing director (Planning) Shahid Salim, and other senior officials of the city government and KWSB were present on the occasion.
The nazim said that the E&IP’s teams comprising officials having magisterial powers, town nazims and traders’ representatives would conduct surprise raids at different markets to ensure that the traders and retailers did not indulge in profiteering and black-marketing so that the citizens might not suffer on account of sky-rocketing prices during the holy month of Ramazan.
At the outset, he made a passionate appeal to the traders and retailers to shun the past practices of indulging in profiteering and black-marketing in the holy month of Ramazan and must keep in mind that the prices of all the essential commodities did not go beyond the buying capacity of common man, otherwise the city government will have no option but take stern action against them.
Referring to arrangements made by the city government for Shab-i-Barat, he said that the faithfuls visiting graveyards would find visible change as all the roads approaching graveyards had been made concrete and patchwork had been carried out even on the internal streets within the periphery of graveyards by works and services department.
Besides, he said, the KWSB had resolved the problem of overflowing sewage at graveyards by undertaking major repair works of main trunk sewers. In this regard, he mentioned that the leaking main truck sewer which was passing through Mewashah graveyard had been repaired.
Talking about the post-rain measures taken by the city government, Mr Kamal said that a state-owned Chinese firm had been awarded contract for laying a permanent storm-water drain from Glass-Tower to Nehre Khayyam so that residents of Clifton, Bath Island and Gulshan-i-Faisal might not suffer on account of stagnant rainwater in future.
He said that the stormwater drain (from Glass Tower to Nehre Khayyam) was temporary laid by the KWSB for draining out stagnant rainwater from Khayaban-i-Jami and Khayaban-i-Roomi after rainwater could not make its way in to Nehre Khayyam owing to rising level of the roads near Clifton’s underpass and heavy encroachments on Glass Tower nullah. The temporary storm-water drain was used for providing immediate relief to the residents of the nearby localities. For this purpose, four channels were made beneath the Schon Circle by laying 44 pipes of 48-inch diameter. Besides, over two-kilometre-long open conduits were made from Glass Tower to Schon Circle and from Schon Circle to Nehre Khayyam for flushing stagnant water from both Khayaban-i-Jami and Khayaban-i-Roomi.
He elaborated that the temporary storm-water drain would be converted into a permanent drainage system for different blocks of Clifton and its adjoining localities. In this regard, the Chinese firm, which had already been awarded contract, would start work on the project from Saturday and accomplish the same in four months.
About the Glass Tower nullah which was being used as tennis court, swimming pool, gardens and parking lots by a number of influential people residing in the adjacent bungalows as a result of which people residing in Bath Island and Gulshan-i-Faisal had to suffer a lot during recent rains, he said that he got dismantled all the illegal structures from the nullah. After the demolition of encroachments, the KWSB kundimen got an access to the nullah and they started the desiltation work to ensure flow of water during rains.
About Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road’s main trunk sewer which recently sunk near Rangers’ headquarters and in front of Chief Minister’s House, the nazim said that not only this but most of the main trunk sewers of the city had already out-lived their life as they were laid in late 1950s.
The city government was nowadays conducting a survey to ascertain the number of localities whose main trunk sewers had outlived their life and the roads where no storm-water system existed so that obsolete main trunk sewers could be replaced with new ones and the roads having no storm-water drains were provided the same.
TRAFFIC: Addressing to a meeting of traffic police high-ups, EDOs and town nazims, Mustafa Kamal said that with the coordinated efforts by the city government, traffic police and town administrations, an exemplary traffic system would be evolved to facilitate commuters’ travel back home in Ramazan and ensure their reaching home before Iftar time, PPI adds.
Filling of potholes created by flooding of roads during the recent rains would be expedited before the advent of the holy month and additional traffic police personnel would be deployed at the places which often remain under heavy traffic pressure, he said.
Mentioning that on an average 1.5 million vehicles plied on city roads daily, he observed that the places and arteries like Guru Mandir, M.A. Jinnah Road, Nazimabad, Liaquatabad, Sharea Faisal, Pak Colony, Shahrah-i-Orangi, Saddar, Banaras Chowk, Hassan Square, Shahrah-i-Pakistan, Sakhi Hassan and Nagan Chowrangi would face more traffic pressure than other spots during Ramazan. He said that steps would be taken to ease the situation.
He said that the monument standing at the Dak Khana intersection in Liaquatabad should be removed as it was causing traffic congestion.
He also pledged measures to ensure a smooth flow of traffic at Tariq Road and other shopping malls of the downtown, besides Quaidabad, where congestion had been caused by the ongoing construction work for a bridge.
He said special campaigns would be launched for removal of encroachments along roads whereas a ban on parking of vehicles outside the showrooms along the New M.A. Jinnah Road and Khalid Bin Waleed Road was already in place.
