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HYDERABAD, Jan 13: Activists of the Gulshan-i-Mehran Welfare Association, Qasimabad, on Sunday held a token hunger strike outside the Hyderabad Press Club to protest against the erratic power, Sui Gas and water supply, collapse of drainage system and roads, and the proposed sale of a 14-acre park of the colony.
Talking to newsmen, the president of the colony, Ghulam Mustafa Chandio and its general secretary, Abdus Sattar Khoso, said that the colony comprised 560 homes but the people were deprived of all basic facilities.
They said the drainage system had totally collapsed and dirty water had accumulated in all the lanes and streets of the colony.
They said that the entire colony was littered with garbage and the civic agencies seemed to be least bothered about it.
They said that even though the colony was approved 20 years ago but it had not been provided gas as yet and the water pipelines were broken at many places.
They said that the owner of the scheme, M. Asghar Bohri Bandookwala, had leased out each plot in the name of two or more parties and was blackmailing them.
They said that no transformer had been installed in the colony.
They alleged that a 14-acre plot meant for a park had also been sold for Rs10 million by Mr. Bandookwala. They said that armed men had been deployed at the plot, which they feared could lead to bloodshed.
They appealed to the authorities concerned to take notice of the excesses against the residents of the colony and deal legally with Mr Bandookwala.
HESCO: The chief executive, Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco), Mohammed Ali Khan, has said that committees were being constituted at the sub-divisional level to resolve problems of the power consumers.
He was speaking at an open kutchery held at Dialdas club here on Saturday.
He said Hesco had established help-lines with telephone numbers 28915-16 and 18 to enable the consumers to contact the help-line in case of any problem.
He said the company was giving new power connections on the payment of the total amount in 12 easy instalments.
He said that one window operation was being introduced in circle-I, Hyderabad, for the resolution of the complaints of the consumers.
Meanwhile, Hesco teams checked 1,428 industrial, agricultural, commercial and domestic meters in Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Tando Allahyar, Tando Mohammad Khan, Tando Adam, Sanghar and Dadu.
During the checking, theft was detected in the meters of 32 agricultural connections, 22 industrial, 72 commercial and 146 domestic metres. Some 227 meters, including six connections of the government colonies, were found running slow.
VOTERS LISTS: The provincial election commissioner, Sindh, Iftikhar Ahmed Qureshi, on Saturday presided over a meeting held here at the office of the deputy election commissioner.
The meeting reviewed the work of preparation of new voters lists. Mr Qureshi stressed that the lists should be completed with honesty and correct entries of voters should be ensured.
