CM wants Hyderabad Development Authority and Wasa to improve performance

HYDERABAD: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah announced on Sunday that every village in the Hyderabad division would be given water supply and drainage schemes to save their agricultural land from turning brackish.

He issued the directives while chairing a meeting in Hyderabad. He ordered restoration of the revenue record that was burnt after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Thatta district. The meeting was attended by Sindh Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) President Nisar Khuhro, General Secretary Waqar Mehdi, provincial ministers Sharjeel Memon, Nasir Shah, Saeed Ghani, Makhdoom Mahboob, Jam Khan Shoro and Haji Ali Hassan Zardari, local govt representatives, party workers, and Hyderabad Division President Ali Nawaz Shah.

Murad directed the local government minister, Ghani, and Hyderabad mayor to improve the performance of the Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA) and Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa). He warned of action against the two authorities if their performance was not improved.

The CM directed the works and services department to complete the ongoing work on the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto flyover within a few months as it had been delayed due to litigation. Murad and his cabinet members also participated in a discussion organised by the Hyderabad Division PPP for submitting recommendations for the coming provincial budget.

According to a statement issued by the PPP, the party’s workers from Hyderabad told the meeting that they lacked basic facilities such as high schools, public libraries and major health facilities.

Hyderabad PPP General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sehto asked the CM to enhance maintenance and repair budget for the Hyderabad district so that repair work could be carried out properly. He also urged the Sindh government to enhance the towns’ share in the octroi zilla tax (OZT).

Hyderabad had nine towns with an accumulated OZT share of Rs13.6 million, of which Rs10 million was utilised for paying salaries, Sehto said, adding that the rest of the amount was utilised in the payments of electricity, phone and other bills, due to which the towns could not carry out development works.

The CM assured him that he had noted his concerns and would attend to his demands. A worker complained against the non-provision of bardana for procurement of wheat by the government. The CM replied that he would prepare a scheme for the welfare of growers and that the distribution of bardana would be ensured.

Workers from Tando Allahyar district said the Civil Hospital there did not provide medicines to the patients and demanded an inquiry into the matter. They also complained of shortage of irrigation water.

The PPP’s workers from Tando Mohammad Khan demanded desilting of Sim Nullah and waterlogging drains as they overflowed during the Kharif season and destroyed agricultural lands. It was also demanded that the road from Tando Mohammad Khan to Sujawal be made a dual carriageway because accidents had become a routine on the road.

Murad said he had noted all the demands of the party workers of Tando Mohammad Khan and they would be met according. Representatives from Matiari district complained that despite the minority and female workers being assets of the PPP, but they were always ignored in the consultations. They also lamented that Matiari was ignored in the government's development schemes.

The CM remarked that Matiari was an important district and the ongoing schemes would be completed there on a priority basis and new schemes would also be launched in the coming financial year.

PPP workers belonging to Dadu said the lining of Johi Branch had not been completed and delayed reconstruction of flood-damaged schools had affected educational activities. It was said that the pumping station being constructed at the Dadu-Moro bridge needed to be completed as soon as possible.

The Dadu representatives also demanded remodeling of the Dadu Canal so that its capacity could be increased from 500 cusecs to 1,000 cusecs. They also called for construction of a flood canal so that various small and big villages of Dadu district could be saved from floods.

Workers from Jamshoro suggested that a separate industrial zone be developed near Jamshoro. Badin PPP workers said petrol and gas had been discovered in the region and oil exploration companies had earned billions, but the local youths were running from pillar to post for employment.

They added that the district had 10 union councils, all of which were in the transition phase for the last 10 months, due to which they had no powers. A women wing leader of the party demanded a medical university in Badin.

Workers of the PPP from Thatta lamented that Thatta outfall drain scheme’s development was not up to the mark. Workers from Sujawal urged the CM to announce special development packages for the relatively new district. They said that being in the extreme tail of the River Indus, the district was in trouble in both the times of floods and drought as it was extremely flooded in the season of floods and when the river faced drought, the district starved.

After the meeting, the CM inaugurated the Centre for Autism Rehabilitation and Training’s new building having a capacity for 300 children. The CM said the Centre for Autism Rehabilitation and Training started in 2018 and it presently operated six centres in the province, giving services to 600 individuals with autism.