HYDERABAD, Aug 28: The district government has presented an uplift plan of Rs10 billion for Hyderabad district before President Gen Pervez Musharraf during his visit to the city on Tuesday.

The plan was submitted by the district Nazim, Hyderabad, Dr Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman.

The plan comprised a total allocation of Rs516.54 million for short-term planning and Rs9,842.52 million for long-term planning of eight Talukas of the district.

According to the details of the plan, it included rehabilitation of the water supply, sewerage and drainage facilities of city, Qasimabad and Latifabad to cater to the needs of the population for rehabilitation, reconditioning and improvement of roads of the eight Talukas in the first phase as short-term planning.

The long-term plan also envisaged two flyovers — one on the Tando Yousuf railway crossing and another on the Unit No7 Latifabad railway crossing, construction of a bye-pass from the National Highway to the Detha railway station, apart from widening/reconditioning/improvement of various roads, two fire brigades for each Taluka, provision of electricity and gas to the rural areas, etc.

Apart from financial allocations for the above-mentioned development works, it has been stated in the plan that the district police were also facing certain problems to control the law and order situation and the force badly needed two armoured personnel carriers, allotment of a plot for a police housing scheme in Qasimabad Phase-I and payment of Rs12.58 million for construction of GOR police station on Hyderabad Cantonment Board land.

An amount of Rs203.95 has also been demanded for modernization of equipments of the Liaquat University Hospital, including angiography, angioplasty and surgical facilities, as the hospital in the city has no MRI/CT scanning units for patients, who were ultimately referred to private hospitals at heavy financial burden. The existing cardiology department is inadequate which also needed modernization.

Given the fact that Hyderabad has a number of industries for shoe-making, bangles, indigenous cigarettes and handicrafts, the district proposed establishing a cottage industrial sector in the Hosh Nagar zone in collaboration with the private sector whereas in the Sarmast zone in Ganju Takkar about 3,000 acres were in the possession of the HDA whose cost is yet to be fixed by the Board of Revenue.

The district government also intends to develop a new site on 1,500 acres for establishing various industries in the zone along the Tando Mohammad Khan Road and assured possible help and relaxation in taxes to investors to promote commercial activities.

Allotment of land for construction of five-star hotels has also been sought to establish recreational facilities and to generate revenue for the general public in the light of discovery of coal in Tharparkar for which the government has signed an agreement with China.

The district government also plans to meet housing demands for all-income groups of three Talukas of Hyderabad city by 2006 for which three commercial and trade centres and one big housing scheme are to be developed in the proposed Sarmast zone, besides developing two parks and a zoo.

The issue of devolution of the Hyderabad Development Authority has also been raised with a request that following a series of meetings with the governor, Sindh, the case was pending for approval with the president for amendment in the Sindh Local Government Ordinance 2001.