KARACHI, Aug 4: City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal on Thursday demanded of the authorities concerned to handover the control of all the civic affairs of the city to a single authority.

Exhorting the need for unity of command vis-à-vis planning, management and maintenance of municipal services, he said that as long as the control of all the municipal affairs was not given under the control of one authority, problems similar to those being confronted by the city nowadays would continue to crop up either in the wake of rains or natural calamities or any other eventuality.

Replying to a query at a news conference the nazim remarked, “How can the municipal affairs of the city could be run efficiently and properly when these are being managed by as many as 13 different agencies such as the KPT, different cantonment boards, DHA, CAA, etc.”

Deploring that the issue of stagnant rainwater in Bath Island and Clifton had arisen because of the non-installation of pumping machines at the Clifton’s underpass’ tanks by the civic agency which built the underpass in question and yet the city government was blamed for this although the task of draining out rainwater from the underpass was not its responsibility but that of the civic agency concerned.

He said that although it was not the job of the city government to drain out the stagnant water from the underpass and the adjoining areas which fell under the jurisdiction of other civic agencies, the city government wasted no time in making alternative arrangements for the disposal of stagnant rainwater not only from the underpass but also from the adjoining localities in to the sea by digging up a temporary channel.

Attributing the cause of flooding of Sharea Faisal, Jinnah hospital road, Empress Market area and underneath the FTC Flyover to choking of drains belonging to the CAA and cantonment boards, he said that the city government deployed pumping machines for draining out rainwater for providing relief to the citizens.

“There was no storm water drain system even at I I Chundrigar Road but we have made a provision of a storm water drain on the road,” he informed.

Lashing out at the owners of those bungalows who have encroached upon a nullah, behind Jamaat Khana by establishing a swimming pool, parking lots, etc, he said that it was because of covering of the nullah that different parts of Clifton were submerged.

He said that he had already ordered bulldozing of all such encroachments from the nullah. Deploring the illegal practice of encroaching upon nullahs, he requested the media to cooperate with the city government so as to discourage such a practice.