HYDERABAD, July 27: The Hyderabad District Council on Saturday demanded of the government to take steps for controlling water-logging and salinity in Latifabad taluka which could lead to massive destruction to properties.

Rana Mehmood Ali Khan, in his resolution, said underground water table in Latifabad and other parts of the district was rising rapidly, posing threat to residents.

He said the water table could have been brought under control through tube-wells if a Rs100 million project, prepared by Wapda 22 years back, had been implemented. The cost of the project had now been revised at Rs1 billion but even then its implementation seemed impossible, he added.

On the other hand, Mr Khan said, construction of multi-storey buildings was continuing without any check in Latifabad in violation of master plan.

He demanded of the government to take steps to control the water table and that the provincial government should release special funds for it.

Supporting the resolution, Hussain Bux Hussaini and Mohammad Saleem Khanzada said the destruction of sewerage and drinking water supply lines was also largely due to water table and added that water came out after a two to four feet digging in graveyards of Phuleli.

They said Nullahs were not desilted with the result that dirty water was mixed with lines, supplying drinking water.

The proceedings were adjourned for some time as Ghulam Hussain Magsi walked out of the council in protest when he was asked to confine his speech to the resolution.

All the members of the council staged a token walk out on the call of Mohammad Yousuf Qureshi to lodge their protest against the Sindh chief secretary, K.B. Rind, who was in the city since Friday night but did not meet Nazims of union councils although he met district Nazim and other residents.

The resolution of Rana Mehmood Ali Khan, pertaining to law and order situation and the recent wave of kidnapping in the district, was deferred for the next session when the AIGP, Hyderabad region, and the DPO would be called.

Salma Rasheed’s resolution about residents of kutcha abadis was passed unanimously.

She said railway officials had demolished kutcha abadis, located in the railway land and added that every now and then under directives from a high official of the railways, the residents were being warned to vacate the land.

She said the kutcha abadis were in existence even before Jan 1, 1978, and were protected under laws of kutcha abadis.

Ms Rasheed added that there were clear directives of President Pervez Musharraf that those abadis which were in existence before March 23, 1985, should not be demolished and their residents should not be displaced and it had been made mandatory that the departments on whose lands kutcha abadis were located would have to provide alternate accommodation to the residents.

She demanded of the railway department not to issue threats to the residents of displacing them unless the department provided alternate land to the residents.

She also asked the federal government to issue directives to the railway department in this regard.

The proceedings were adjourned for some minutes after a verbal bout that took place between Saira Naseer and Ali Mohammad Shah when the former criticized the district Nazim for not taking notice of excesses against women.

After disposing of the current agenda, the council also unanimously passed a number of resolutions of the supplementary agenda.

Rana Mehmood Ali Khan told the council that contractors were charging Rs5 to Rs10 from rickshaw drivers who dropped passengers at the railway station which he said was in violation of rules.

He said it was not possible for the rickshaw drivers to pay the parking fees to the contractors, who had blocked the entire route by raising barricades.

He demanded that the old method of parking fees should be restored and the rickshaw drivers should not be subjected to extortion.

SU exams: The controller of annual examinations, University of Sindh, on Friday announced the schedule for post graduate annual examination 2001 in the affiliated degree colleges of the university.

Annual examination of MSc, previous, MCom, previous and final, MA, previous, and postgraduate Diploma in Public Administration will be conducted from Aug 1 while MSc and MA, final, examination will be conducted from Aug 2.

The postgraduate examination will be conducted at the Dr Nabi Bux Baloch Model School, Elsa Kazi Campus (old campus), University of Sindh, Hyderabad.