KARACHI: Lashing out at both the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and the federal government on Saturday, Mayor Murtaza Wahab accused the rival party of “blackmailing” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif by threatening to quit the coalition government at the Centre if the prime minister allowed heavy vehicles to ply on the Lyari Expressway at his request.

He also criticised Islamabad for “neglecting” Karachi and equated the federal government’s contribution to the development of the city to “zero plus zero equals to zero”.

The mayor shared his thoughts while replying to a question during his media talk after visiting Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation’s TP-3 in Mauripur, which was made operational to treat 35 million gallons of sewage per day before being released into the sea.

The mayor was visibly disappointed and showed the sign of a thumbs down when asked about the federal government’s contribution for the city development and financial assistance from PM Shehbaz Sharif.

Blames MQM-P for ‘blackmailing’ PM to foil his plan to use Lyari Expressway for heavy traffic

In the same breath, he also questioned the role of MQM-P which kept complaining about the Karachi infrastructure and development, but despite being a “key partner” of the coalition in the federal had “failed to bring anything for the city”.

“I really feel sorry and disappointed,” he said while making a thumbs-down sign to a question about the federal government’s contribution for Karachi.

“They are not even opening Lyari Expressway only because someone [MQM-P] is threatening them that if the Lyari Expressway is opened for heavy traffic they would quit the coalition. It’s because they don’t want the PPP government to get the credit.”

It is relevant to mention here that in May 2024 the mayor had written a letter to PM Shehbaz seeking his permission to allow movement of heavy vehicles on the Lyari Expressway in order to ease traffic congestion in Karachi.

The movement of heavy traffic on the expressway is not allowed by the National Highway Authority (NHA) which says that the specially-designed infrastructure is only meant for cars and light transport vehicles.

About the progress of federal government-funded projects and utilisation of funds set aside for such schemes, the mayor was sure that nothing was happening on the ground which could be seen as promising for Karachi and its people.

“I often ask people not to focus on [announced] budget, but on release of funds. For instance, I set aside Rs100 billion for any project and release only one billion and then spend not even a rupee then it’s nothing but like zero plus zero equals to zero,” he added.

Treatment plant becomes operational

Earlier, the mayor said that the KWSC TP-3 plant had been made operational, and 35 million gallons of sewage per day was being treated before being released into the sea.

“This major step will protect marine life. Karachi will become Pakistan’s first city where sewage will be treated and made usable.”

Accompanied by Deputy Mayor Salman Abdullah Murad and others, the mayor said that water scarcity was becoming a global issue, and in some countries, recycled water was even used for “drinking”.

“While this practice is not common in our country, it is now necessary to recycle water and make seawater usable. The treated water will be tested in laboratory to assess its suitability for industrial and construction use,” he added.

“We have already started working for the installation of a fourth treatment plant in Ibrahim Hyderi after meeting all formalities. We are already treating 100 MGD at Treatment Plant-1 while Treatment Plant-3 has the capacity to treat 280 MGD.”

He claimed that since the PPP had taken charge of Karachi, the city’s problems had started to be “resolved”.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2024