KARACHI, March 17: City Nazim Mustafa Kamal on Friday defended demolition of Jumma Khan Goth in Gulshan-i-Iqbal Town saying it was established on land under which main water supply lines to Karachi, Siphon 19 were passing.
In a statement issued here, he said the demolition operation was carried out in the larger interest of citizens as these pipelines were under danger and any damage or contamination of water could affect over 70 per cent population of Karachi.
It was a joint operation of Gulshan Town Administration and Karachi Water and Sewerage Board to protect Siphon 19, he said adding that people in Jumma Goth had punctured main water pipelines in the area and were obtaining water from them, causing contamination to drinking water.
He said that even NIPA complained that when that Siphon was punctured by the residents of Jumma Goth, offices of NIPA submerged in the water.
Keeping in view the interests of large population of Karachi, he said that demolition of the goth had become inevitable. “The city government is neither going to initiate any business activity on that land nor it is going to auction it,” he added.
DELEGATION City Nazim Mustafa Kamal has said that Korangi-Shah Faisal Colony bridge was a two-year project and would be completed and opened for traffic by June 2007.
He was talking to a six-member delegation of Pakistan-Japan Business Forum, which called on him at his office on Friday. Forum’s Vice-President Majeed Aziz led the delegation comprising H. Miyakawa of JETRO, member PJBF managing committee Sohail Pervez, PJBF joint secretary Matinur Rehman, representative of Japanese Consul-General Eri Kakuta and PJBF secretary Salim Ahmed Nooruddin.
Highlighting the ongoing uplift projects in the city, Mustafa Kamal told the delegation that work on more than 18 projects worth billions of rupees was underway simultaneously. He said the city government was focusing on outsourcing to cater real needs of the city and for this purpose it had recently signed an agreement with the US company, Glopa.
The nazim said Karachi was the ‘revenue engine’ for the country.
The nazim was informed about forthcoming visit of a delegation of Japan-Pakistan Business Co-operation Committee in June for a joint discussion.—PPI