Cop to be suspended for polio vaccination refusal, says CS

Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Asif Hyder Shah on Tuesday said a policeman who turned away polio workers without letting them vaccinate the children in his house would be suspended.

The CS also suspended an encroachment deputy director, an encroachment inspector and a solid waste management deputy director over the setting up of a vegetable market on a road in Mominabad.

Shah visited different areas of Karachi to review the ongoing polio campaign. He also talked to people about the drive. During his visit to Sachal Goth, he checked the vaccination markers outside houses and on children’s fingers.

He found that 11 children at a policeman’s house were not vaccinated because the polio team was turned away. The CS ordered vaccinating all the children, and stressed that the policeman would be suspended for the refusal.

He said the district administration and the district health officers should persuade all refusing parents to get their children vaccinated. Action will be taken against the parents who repeatedly refuse, he added.

Karachi’s issues

Later, a meeting convened by Shah to discuss the city’s issues reviewed the ongoing development projects, the water supply situation and the traffic issues. He said he visited different districts and found that a large number of people are worried over the delay in the Red Line project.

He pointed out that thousands of people are worried due to road-cutting and sewage. He expressed anger over road-cutting, and directed the Karachi commissioner to ensure that no one is allowed to engage in road-cutting. He also directed him to prepare a summary for imposing Section 144 over road-cutting. He said that in case of an extreme need, road restoration should be done immediately by the same agency.

The transport secretary said that there are issues of utility-shifting and the Civil Aviation Authority’s NOC for the right of way for Red Line. Work on Red Line will be completed by June 2026, he added. The CS ordered the transport secretary to expedite the work on Red Line.

He also ordered that illegal parking of rickshaws, trucks and trailers under the city’s bridges be stopped. He directed the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board to run a special campaign for cleanliness, tree-planting and lighting under the bridges.

He directed the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation to renovate and beautify 12 highways of the city, including Sharea Faisal, II Chundrigar Road, Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Shahrah-e-Orangi, Shahrah-e-Shaheed-e-Millat and Marine Promenade Road.

Shah also decided that the road at Sharea Faisal Karsaz would be widened, and private companies’ paintings would be removed from the walls and traffic police barriers. He said the NOCs of the Bachat Bazaars that are creating traffic problems should be cancelled, and ordered that fences in front of shops on the road in three lanes be removed.

He also ordered the suspension of the Mominabad Town Municipal Corporation’s Encroachment Deputy Director Naeem Khan and Encroachment Inspector Tahir, as well as Solid Waste Management Deputy Director Noman Waheed over the setting up of a vegetable market on the road in Mominabad. The CS said that a complete ban would be imposed on the use of plastic bags, and ordered the environment secretary to prepare a summary for the provincial cabinet.