KARACHI: Mayor Wasim Akhtar on Monday said the areas falling in Malir and Korangi districts were in need of immediate infrastructure uplift and asked the elected representatives to strive for their development in the least possible time.

“The elected leadership of these areas should carry out speedy development activities to solve their problems which are mostly related to deteriorated roads and streets, sewer leakages and streetlight failures,” the mayor said while presiding over a meeting at his office to review progress on development projects carried out in the two districts under the district Annual Development Pro­gramme (ADP) 2017-18.

The meeting was attended by MPA Faisal Sabzwari, Deputy Mayor Arshad Vohra, City Council’s parliamentary leader Aslam Shah Afridi, chairmen of finance, works and land committees Nadeem Hashmi, Hassan Naqvi, and Syed Arshad Hasan, municipal commissioner Asghar Abbas, and other senior officials.

Mayor Akhtar said the residents of Malir and Korangi would be beneficiaries when all development works got completed.

He said engineering and finance departments must coordinate with each other in other to ensure hurdle-free completion of work.

The meeting was informed that a total of 26 schemes costing Rs527.623 million had been launched in Korangi district under the ADP out of which seven costing Rs91.027m had been completed while work was under way on other schemes.

Similarly, in Malir district, 26 schemes costing Rs476.822m had been begun. One of those schemes had been completed while work was under way on other schemes.

These schemes, the meeting was told, included repair of roads, bridges, streetlights, culverts, CC flooring, laying of sewer pipes etc.

‘Mayor to be kept on board federal projects’

On Sunday Mayor Akhtar claimed Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had assured him at a meeting that the mayor and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) would be kept on board in all the projects being financed by the federal government in the sprawling metropolis.

“During my meeting with the prime minister it was agreed upon that the federal government will keep the mayor and the KMC on board in all the projects it is financing in the city,” said Mr Akhtar in a statement issued by his office.

He said Prime Minister Abbasi was keen to implement the Karachi Package in letter and spirit, and “good results are expected to come our way in a week or so”.

He said he had requested the prime minister to launch the second phase of the bulk water supply project, K-IV, alongside with the ongoing first phase of the scheme.

“I told him that a broken down sewerage system was the key problem of the city as Karachi’s 90 per cent problems could be solved if its sewerage lines are replaced or repaired.”

He said he had presented the estimates on the projects vis-à-vis the Karachi Package to the prime minister, hoping the city’s problems could be resolved soon.

During the meeting, a spokesperson for the mayor said Mr Akhtar had informed PM Abbasi that the ambitious industrial treatment plants’ project worth Rs11 billion had not yet been launched. He requested to begin it in soonest possible time.

He had also furnished a proposal before the PM about a Rs10bn scheme to improve the city’s streets and lanes. Besides, Rs5bn were needed for strengthening of extremely stretched fire brigade, which needed more snorkels and other required equipment.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2017