KARACHI: City Mayor Wasim Akhtar said on Thursday that use of drugs and narcotics was rampant in the city and the menace had penetrated into schoolchildren in posh localities, including Defence Housing Authority.

He said the use of syringe for administering drugs was increasing in the city leading to unprecedented deaths.

The mayor said that drugs and arms were being smuggled into the city from two borders without any check. “Is drug mafia that influential that no action can be taken against them?” he asked.

‘Provinces have created a state within a state after 18th Amendment’

Mr Akhtar was speaking to the participants in the 26th course of National Institute of Management (NIM), Quetta, who called on him at his office.

He said that the menace of drugs should be dealt with at the federal level as the drug mafia was very powerful in the country.

The mayor said that the provinces had created a state within a state after the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. “We have mandate of this city, but we are unable to do what we want to do for the people due to shortage of funds”.

He expressed the hope that funds under the Karachi Package would be released soon to the city for uplift and development projects. “We need to focus on resolving the chronic issues of the city. Everything is possible if we have the resources and powers,” he added.

Metropolitan Commissioner Dr Syed Saif-ur-Rehman and other senior KMC officers were also present in the meeting.

The mayor said that the city had been badly neglected in the past and its problems became complicated with every passing year.

The mayor said that bike riders got injured seriously on daily basis in Karachi and “these young men of 15 to 18 years of age” had no such facilities to get better medical treatment in hospitals.

The Karachi mayor said that the KMC would fulfil its responsibility to create awareness among the people regarding cleanliness and other civic issues.

He said that the city’s drains needed to be cleaned properly on permanent basis.

The drains were encroached upon and even roads and footpaths were also occupied by land mafia in Karachi.

WHO delegation

Meanwhile a delegation of the World Health Organisation met Metropolitan Commissioner Dr Syed Saif-ur-Rehman to discuss with him polio eradication programme and measures in this connection.

The delegation comprised chairman of world polio eradication technical advisory group Dr Jean Marc O’Live, head of WHO Pakistan, and focal person.

The delegation said that efforts were being made to eradicate polio virus from Pakistan.

The metropolitan commissioner informed the delegation about the measures taken by the KMC to ensure polio vaccination in children in Karachi.

He said polio eradication counters had been set up in all KMC hospitals and the DMCs were also conducting work of providing polio drops to children.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2018