KARACHI, Nov 28: The Lyari Town Nazim, Malik Mohammad Fayyaz, has written to the DCO Karachi complaining against the civic agencies. He demanded the immediate attention of the Karachi Coordination Committee to provide relief to Lyari’s residents.
The nazim said Lyari Town was the oldest settlement of the city, but the civic agencies neglect was responsible for turning this once beautiful locality into a slum. The Board of Revenue, KESC, PTCL, LDA, KPT, Police and Lyari Development Authority, he claimed had no interest in resolving Lyari’s problems.
He said hundreds of acres of government land in the town was used for commercial purposes which could be put to better use in public welfare projects. These large-size plots categorised as CDC land (City District Collectorate) belong to the Board of Revenue had been allotted by the former Karachi Collectorate for warehouse purposes.
The lease period of all such plots had expired and these parcels of land could be utilised for amenity purposes like parks, playgrounds, colleges, schools, hospitals and community centres and collective welfare of the people. He demanded the lease of these valuable plots should not be renewed as the locality was short of amenity plots.
He asked the KESC to do more for the town. A grid station at Mauripur Road was constructed exclusively to provide electricity to Lyari, but the power generated is also distributed to SITE and Baldia Towns. He suggested the generation capacity be enhanced to meet the town’s requirements. He also demanded that old and worn out electric wires and poles be replaced. He added at least 20 new PMTs were necessary, while the existing sub-stations of Lyari Town needed to be upgraded to improve electricity supply. The nazim said gas load-shedding was a new problem in some localities of Lyari Town. The gas pipeline was laid in Lyari almost 30 years ago, wear and tear and the passage of time has resulted in massive leakage and complaints are increasing with each passing day but the gas utility has done nothing. The nazim demanded replacement of the existing lines and immediate measures in controlling the load-shedding.
The nazim also said most telephone lines were out of order and the PTCL employees response to public complaints was rude. The PTCL staff was also in the habit of digging up roads to lay cables and leaving the road uncarpeted
The nazim was particularly harsh on the Lyari Development Authority. He said though LDA bears the name of Lyari, there is no scheme in its jurisdication to benefit residents of the town.
It is ironic to note that in LDA’s Scheme No 42, Hawksbay, hundreds of families of Lyari had obtained allotments through ballot. But despite the passage of more than 18 years, physical possession was yet to be handed over.
The nazim said the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) authorities recover all kind of charges and taxes from this belt as the port lies in this town’s jurisdiction, but in exchange no service charges are paid to Lyari Town.
The town nazim said the city government had launched a 33 water line under K-111 project to resolve the acute water shortage in the locality. Some initial work was started, but after a few months, it was stopped abruptly leaving behind debris and scattered water pipelines. He urged the CDGK to restart work on the project. He also demanded that the CDGK begin construction and renovation work of the main arteries of Lyari Town including Chakiwara Road, Shah Latif Bhittai Road Shah Waliuallh Road, Faqir Mohammad Dura Khan Road, Essa Khan Road and Sheikh Rashid Road, but most of the work was left abandoned. Mirza Adam Khan Road being the main link from Mauripur Road to Garden area along the Lyari River. He urged the CDGK to undertake construction of various main roads of Lyari Town. The nazim also drew the DCO’s attention to the deplorable condition of Miran-Naka-Shershah bridge which he said had completed its operational life.
