KARACHI, March 1: The military regime’s devolution plan has received another blow as the Sindh government has, reportedly, decided to retain the Sindh Kutchi Abadi Authority (SKAA) and the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) under its control.

Coming closely on the heels of the Sindh government’s decision to retain the KBCA, this fresh move would further negate the spirit of devolution, well- placed sources in the Karachi City District Government said on Thursday, adding that the people would be the ultimate sufferers of this kind of arrangement as it would create different tiers of authority.

Construction, maintenance, and repair of roads would be the responsibility of the city government, but the sewerage system would be under the control of the Sindh government, the sources said. They expressed the apprehension that under the proposed arrangement, it would be difficult to control gutter overflows on roads, which had long since become part of the city’s landscape, as the latter function would be the task of the KWSB which would be outside the control of the city government.

Considering the experience of wranglings between government departments, it was possible that an important aspect of civic matters, ie, maintenance of gutters, might suffer neglect in case a tug-of-war erupted between the city government and the provincial government. Likewise, the SKAA remaining with the provincial government would also create problems for the people if the provincial and the city government worked at cross-purposes, the sources said.

Only recently the bureaucrats who had been badly affected by the emergence of the new local government system had succeeded in getting hold of the KBCA for 6 months, ie, till June 2002, on the plea that the KBCA should remain under the umbrella of the Sindh government as long as the current regularization process of illegal buildings is completed.

Divulging the details of the Sindh government’s plan, well-place sources in the city government told Dawn that the provincial government had decided to retain the KWSB under its fold by merely changing its nomenclature from KWSB to water and sewerage authority.

The proposed water and sewerage authority would have a governing body and the additional chief secretary (ACS) Sindh would be its chairman and the Karachi Nazim would be only a member of the proposed authority.

The SKAA, instead of being devolved under the SLGO-2001, was being retained by the provincial government, the sources said, adding that the ACS would be the chairman of the Authority and the city Nazim would serve it in his capacity as member.

Criticizing the provincial government’s decisions pertaining to the KWSB, SKAA and KBCA, the sources said such a move by the provincial government, on the one hand, had been taken in sheer violation of the SLGO-2001 and, on the other, it amounted to an attempt to belittle the prestige and status of the Karachi Nazim.

“Isn’t a mockery of the new local government system that the city Nazim who, under the SLGO-2000, is the head of about 14 departments, cannot even serve the proposed authorities as chairman whereas mayors of the defunct KMC had remained chairman of the KWSB and KDA/KBCA,” they remarked.

The sources said all such decisions had been taken in sheer violation of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance (SLGO) of 2001, because the KWSB, kutchi abadis and the KBCA were the subjects of the city government.

The sources said this decision would also create hurdle for the city government to preparing the city’s master plan as the kutchi abadis department/the SKAA would have an edge over the city government with respect to land of kutchi abadis.