Parking of oil tankers banned in city

The Sindh Home Department on Friday issued a notification imposing a complete ban on parking of oil tankers in the city and directed all drivers to park their vehicles at the Zulfiqarabad Oil Terminal (ZOT). The restriction has been imposed for 60 days with immediate effect.

As per the notification, the city metropolitan commissioner’s letter, dated December 2, 2016, maintains that work on shifting of tankers from the Shireen Jinnah Colony to the ZOT had almost been completed and that the terminal would be completely operational by December 12, 2016.

The commissioner had further requested for Section 144 of the CrPC to be imposed on parking of oil tankers in the metropolis.

The government’s notification stated that to overcome acute traffic congestion and to provide safety to its citizens from probable accidents, fire or oil spills from tankers parked within residential areas, it was necessary to restrict drivers from parking oil tankers in the city.

The notification further read that, “In pursuance of Section 195(i)(a) CrPC, SHO of the concerned police station is hereby authorised to register complaints, under Section 188 PPC, in writing for violation of Section 144 CrPC against violators of this notification.”

Mayor reviews shifting

City mayor, Waseem Akhtar, directed concerned officials to ensure timely shifting of oil tankers from various areas of city to the Zulfiqarabad Oil Terminal, in compliance with the Supreme Court’s (SC) orders.

Presiding over a meeting held to review the implementation of the order, Akhtar directed senior officials of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to make sure that no land in or around the terminal was handed over or rented out to anybody for any purpose, and that no encroachments were allowed on it.

The mayor was then briefed over the schedule to visit the ZOT, by senior director of the Charged Parking Department, who also informed him that the KMC was prepared to fulfil all formalities, make necessary arrangements and provide logistical support in order to ensure the tankers were shifted in time.

The mayor also called for strong supervision of all ongoing activities on the project by a responsible officer.

Akhtar also directed the municipal commissioner to help the senior director of the charged parking department to overcome other issues including deployment of city wardens, provision of ambulances and fire equipments and funds for the terminal’s daily expenses.