KARACHI, Jan 30: The Sindh government has decided to send cases of reported corruption and mal-administration in new Sabzi Mandi to the National Accountability Bureau in the light of an inquiry report.

Following press reports lately of corrupt practices in vogue in the vegetable market, the government had constituted an inquiry committee, headed by Sarwar Khero, which has submitted its report, and the chief secretary, K.B. Rind, it is learnt, has sent a summary to the authorities for necessary action.

The new market, despite spreading over to 100 acres in contrast to old vegetable market of 17 acres, has failed to come up to the expectations of the people and the very purpose of providing wholesale market facilities for sale and purchase of agriculture produce and making rules for its proper administration has been defeated.

The vegetable market is being run without an administrator, or a secretary of the market committee, and the officials posted are not being allowed to take the charge as the transferred officials have been aspiring to resume their respective positions.

The market continues to give a pathetic look and unhygienic atmosphere prevails owing to setting up of patharas all around while its passages and roads are filled with rubbish and mud and sewage is overflowing from broken lines.

There is a total chaos and confusion and the authorities continue to ignore the directives of the Supreme Court, the Ombudsman and the City Nazim to get the plan formally approved from the competent authority so that the objective of setting up a new market, with the assistance of the World Bank costing a huge investment of Rs one billion, is fully achieved.

Another example of mismanagement is recruitment of 50 fee- collectors and sub-inspectors during last four months without any advertizement or interviews and that, too, without any provision in the budget. It still remains a mystery how their salary cheques are arranged and from which accounts.

Although the vegetable market is only 21 months old, it poses health hazards and looks like a traditional market with the difference only that concrete structures exist instead of thatches, asbestos and tin-roofs.

The allottees attribute the present state of affairs to lack of facilities and basic amenities like that of water, gas and power supply, mismanagement and vested interest of those who are at the helm of affairs.

In this connection, they said the post of the secretary of the market committee had been lying vacant for the last two months. The charge of the administrator of the market committee was not being given to the deputy secretary despite his posting.

With the retirement of the secretary of the market committee, the grade-16 post which fell vacant about two months has not been filled and the project engineer has instead been given an additional charge.

The post of account officer of the committee, who was suspended reportedly for pointing out technical flaws in running the affairs of the committee, is also lying vacant and the work of issuing cheques had also been taken up by the cheque-signing authority himself.

A large number of grown up trees, numbering between 200 and 300 which were planted at the time of initiation of the vegetable market project in the 90s under a plan had been cut off to accommodate patharas and influential people.

Most of footpaths have disappeared as “piris” have been set up on a large portion. Likewise, the parking place had also disappeared while hotels have been allowed to function under water tanks. The Sabzi Mandi, which was conceived in 1991 and was supposed to start functioning in 1995 could not make it until April 2001 due to mismanagement in allotment of shops, irregularities and corruption.

The project was streamlined only after Sindh Ombudsman’s intervention and the changed circumstances in which army was inducted to sort out allotment issue and carry out shifting of the old Sabzi Mandi.

Until Brig Abdul Qadir remained posted at the Sabzi Mandi, its functioning remained smooth without any encroachments owing to his efforts for providing civic services and necessary facilities to allottees but after the withdrawal of the army over six months back, the market has been left to the market committee which has failed to improve its functioning and ensuring that the layout plan remains intact and that there are no encroachments.