KARACHI: The Sindh government has ordered replacement of old sewerage lines with new ones in the old city area and directed the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board [KWSB] to work out a plan to reconstruct all the old lines.

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah issued this order while taking serious view of the collapse of a 66-inch diameter sewerage line on Club Road. A truck had fallen into the broken main. This sewerage line was laid in 1956 on the road which collapsed on Monday morning. As a result all the gutters feeding the line in the Saddar area started overflowing.

The CM directed the KWSB to restore the collapsed portion of the line within 24 hours and simultaneously directed the local government minister to replace all the old lines on Club Road and from Ghazanfar Ali Khan Road to the Clifton pumping station (Beaumont Road).

Mr Shah also issued directives to the KWSB managing director to prepare a detailed scheme for replacing all the old sewerage lines with new ones in the old city area.

He recalled that earlier a 66-inch dia sewerage line had collapsed on Dr Ziauddin Road near CM House and its rehabilitation took many days. Now a line had sunk on Club Road and it would again cause serious problems in smooth flow of traffic. He added that the replacement of old lines with new ones had become vital to improve the system.

Meanwhile, the CM sought a report from the local government secretary about the repair of refuse vehicles by DMCs. He said the government had already released Rs88 million to three DMCs — Korangi, West and Central — on Oct 14.

He said he was keen to make cleanliness of the city sustainable and he was sure that the DMCs concerned would play their due role and keep their districts clean.

Mr Shah also directed the LG secretary to issue necessary instructions to all the local bodies all over Sindh to maintain cleanliness in their areas.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2019