SHC seeks status of football grounds in Lyari, Ibrahim Hyderi, other areas of Sindh

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the Karachi mayor and Sindh sports secretary to submit details of the status of football grounds in Lyari, Ibrahim Hyderi and other districts of the province.

The direction came recently on petition with regard to supply of water to Afridi Colony and other adjacent areas of Baldia Town, and removal of encroachments from the football stadium.

The petitioner, Abdul Wasay, and others had submitted in the petition that water supply to Afridi colony and other areas had been disrupted for last couple of years while underground water tank and football stadium had been illegally occupied.

An executive engineer of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) submitted that the main source of water to the area, a 33-inch diameter water line from Hub Tank Main, had been abandoned for 10 years while the 19-D pumping station was not working properly. He submitted that pumping machinery had been stolen and some parts of the pumping machinery were damaged.

He submitted that an underground water tank at the football stadium was badly damaged and needed repair. He added that the areas of Gulshan-e-Ghazi, Afridi Colony and Abidabad were totally dependent by the source HTM water line and 19-D pumping station and the PC-I in this regard had been referred to the relevant authority.

The SHC was earlier informed by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) that 17 shops illegally existed outside the football stadium which were encroachments and liable to be demolished.

The high court had earlier directed the KMC and KWSC to remove the encroachments from the football stadium and submit a compliance report.

A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar directed the mayor and KWSC to ensure compliance with the court orders about removal of encroachments from the football stadium.

The SHC also directed the mayor and Sindh sports secretary to submit details of the present status of the football grounds in the Lyari and Ibrahim Hyderi areas of Karachi as well as in other districts of the province on the next hearing.