KARACHI: Mayor Wasim Akhtar, pointing out the re-emergence of illegal hydrants, has warned that if these unlawful structures are not shut down, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) squad would be sent to demolish them.

Briefing the media after a prize distribution among students in Korangi on Sunday, the mayor said that a large number of illegal hydrants under some unscrupulous officials of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board had mushroomed in various parts of the city and warned the officials that all such illegal hydrants be shut down immediately.

He said that residents in different areas of the city were not getting their due share of water which was being stolen through these hydrants and sold to the rich. He said that while the residents remained thirsty, money was being made by officials and other higher-ups who sold the water.

The mayor warned that if this water theft was not stopped immediately and if residents did not get their due share of water, he would send KMC staffers to demolish such illegal hydrants. He said that the elected representatives of the city would not allow the corrupt mafia to make money while the citizens remained thirsty.

He also criticised the government, which, he said, wanted to bribe the elected local bodies representatives by providing them with new cars. He said that instead, garbage-lifting vehicles and equipment be provided to the local bodies so that they could maintain cleanliness in their respective areas.

He said the people of Karachi were politically aware and would vote for representatives of those political parties which had joined hands in solving the civic issues of the city.

Earlier, mayor Akhtar distributed prizes and certificates among the 28 students who had become Hafiz-i-Quran and 19 other students who had secured good marks in the matriculation examination.

Encroachments removed

A large number of encroachments — iron and wood cabins, carts, ‘patharas’ etc — were removed during an anti-encroachment operation near Urdu Bazaar and the Sobhraj Maternity Home on Sunday.

Karachi mayor Wasim Akhtar said that a large number of students and parents visited Urdu Bazaar, which was the biggest market of books and reading material in the city.

However, all of them faced great hardships owing to the encroachments, and so he had ordered the KMC’s anti-encroachment squad to carry out the operation.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2017