Recent rains caused no problem in Karachi, parliamentary secretary tells PA

The Sindh Assembly was told on Friday that the monsoon showers in the current season had not caused any problem in Karachi.

This interesting claim was made by Parliamentary Secretary for the Local Government Department Muhammad Saleem Baloch as he responded to a call-attention notice moved by a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker on the first day of the first session of the new parliamentary year of the Sindh Assembly.

He said the residents of Karachi had enjoyed the recent instances of rain as the monsoon showers did not cause any problem. The current monsoon season was almost over without causing any trouble in the city, he added.

Baloch informed the House that work was started in May this year to carry out de-silting of storm water drains in the city in the jurisdiction of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and District Municipal Corporations.

The call-attention notice had been moved by PTI MPA Jamal Siddiqui who claimed that storm water drains were in a very bad shape in the city. He said the residents of Karachi had to suffer huge losses as the KMC was ill-prepared to tackle the monsoon rains.

The opposition MPA said that tall claims had been made by the authorities concerned before the monsoon rains but later on, everyone came to see the preparations for the rainy season.

Private schools

The female legislator of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), Sarwat Fatima, spoke on her call-attention notice regarding private schools charging fee during the lockdown.

She said private schools had acted in a manner during the lockdown period as if they were above the law as they charged up to Rs5,000 monthly tuition fee even when the educational institutions stood closed during the lockdown.

Responding to the call-attention notice, Sindh Education and Culture Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah said he agreed with many points raised by the TLP legislator. The education minister said that there were widespread complaints that the private schools did whatever they could do when they had to charge tuition fees.

He sought help from the opposition in the form of suggestions regarding what methods could be used to take action against private schools charging heavy fees. He conceded that private schools had been violating the law as they were not offering scholarships and free-of-charge education to 10 per cent of their students from the underprivileged communities.

The education minister said the government would take action against erring private schools if the opposition lent its support in this regard.

Illegal constructions

Conceding that illegal buildings had been constructed in Karachi, the provincial government assured the concerned members of the provincial assembly that action against unauthorised constructions in the city was being taken place on a daily basis.

The parliamentary secretary for the local government department gave this assurance while responding to a call-attention notice by a PTI MPA on the issue of unauthorised constructions in the city.

Speaking on his call-attention notice, PTI lawmaker Muhammad Riaz Hyder said the Sindh government had failed to stop illegal constructions in Karachi. He said inefficiency on the part of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) had been responsible for unabated construction of illegal buildings in the city. He added that the recent factory fire tragedy in Mehran Town had laid bare the performance of the SBCA.

The opposition legislator said that the ill-fated industrial unit had been built on a residential plot. He asked what action had been taken by the Sindh government against unauthorised constructions. He also held the local government minister responsible for the tragedy.

The PTI MPAs stood from their seats to protest when the microphone of Hyder was switched off after his speech on his call-attention notice exceeded the allocated time. Responding to the call-attention notice, Baloch claimed that the SBCA had been doing its work on a daily basis on the issue of illegal buildings in the city,

He added that a committee had been constituted in this regard with involvement of the Karachi additional inspector general of police. He informed the House that 97 illegal buildings were demolished in the city in July, action taken against 136 such buildings in August, and so far in September, 38 demolition activities had taken place in the city.