KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday said that his government was planning to start a ferry service between Seaview and Manora.

He said this while inaugurating the Manora waterfront beach project. He said that his government had developed the place to provide a safe, secure, neat and clean family recreational facilities for the people of this city.

He said that the development of a jetty at Seaview was being planned to start a ferry service from the Clifton area to the newly developed beach.

The Rs650 million improvement of waterfront development at Manora beach project was launched through an annual development programme (ADP) scheme. It has a parking area spreading over an acre. It has front structure of 7.91 acres with 29 gazebos and L-Shape benches along with tables.

It has dozens of Teflon sheds and 76 park benches. A separate play area has been developed for children.

“The project is a part of an overall development scheme of Karachi and the construction of waterfront development provides for public recreational of Karachi,” the CM said and added: “At present, the Manora beach is underutilised with very low volume of visitors due to lack of facilities like sitting space, dining area, restrooms, shades, tidiness, etc.”

He said the main attraction of Karachi is its beaches and coastline, which distinct the city from the rest of the country.

He said that due to the dearth of entertainment avenues, especially for middle and lower middle class, people rushed to Clifton, Seaview, Hawkesbay and Sands Pit for a long time.

“Since those destinations are just beaches and not developed thus they got stale, there is a dire need of some new developments to provide an area for public refreshment,” he said.

The CM said that it would be the first developed beach in the city and added the proposed design had all the needs required for a family entertainment in a secure environment.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2021