Ghani urges JI to keep protests about city’s woes orderly

Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani on Sunday advised the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) to voice their concerns about Karachiites’ problems in an orderly manner to spare the residents more hardships.

Speaking at a press conference, in which Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Sindh Senior Vice President Rana Ahsan announced joining the Pakistan Peoples Party, Ghani said the traffic system in the entire city was ruined due to the JI’s protests on Saturday.

He said protests should remain peaceful, with the precaution that no one faces hardships due to agitation. The JI has adopted the practice of causing the closure of main roads under its protest drive, he added.

He also said the water from the tankers that were operating on the road where the JI was holding a demonstration was forcibly spilled to worsen the traffic congestion. Ghani said the water supply line was accidentally ruptured, and its repair took considerable time, but this delay should not be used as a pretext to cause hardships to the residents.

He admitted that Karachi is facing a water shortfall, as the available water can meet only 50 per cent of the actual demand, but the government has started taking steps to resolve the issue.

He said that 60 to 70 million gallons of additional water would be available to Karachi after the repair of the old canal supplying water to the city from the Hub Dam, and the building of a new canal for the purpose.

Meanwhile, a large number of the people of Karachi assembled outside a water hydrant in the Nipa area in protest against the prolonged water crisis under the aegis of the JI on Sunday evening.

A day earlier, the JI had held protest demonstrations at 15 major spots in the city against the prolonged water shortage issue. The participants at Nipa carried placards and banners, and chanted slogans against the water corporation and water tanker operators.

Addressing the protest, Karachi JI Emir Monem Zafar said the megacity had been kept deprived of water supply for more than past 15 days and to add insult to the injury, the water corporation had been misleading the Karachiites with one deadline after another.

He said that Karachi needed water supply in taps and not in tankers. He added that Karachi had become the only megacity where water was available in tankers at commercial rates and not supplied in lines.

He said the people of Karachi would have to come forward and take to streets against the injustice and occupation regime for their due rights. He reiterated the JI’s demand for the completion of the K-IV water supply project, and restoration and renewal of water supply lines. He lamented that Karachi provided more than 95 per cent budget for Sindh but the provincial government put all the needs of the city on the back burner. He also demanded the Sindh government stop protecting what he called the water tanker mafia.