Reconstruction of Shahrah-e-Noor Jahan in District Central begins

Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Administrator Murtaza Wahab, who also serves as the Sindh government's spokesperson and adviser to the chief minister on Law, laid the foundation stone on Saturday for the reconstruction of Shahrah-e-Noor Jahan at a cost of Rs1.3 billion.

The two-lane road would be constructed between Abdullah Girls College and Qalandaria Chowk in the North Nazimabad area. The total length of the thoroughfare is 4.3 kilometres and its width would be 11 metres after the reconstruction.

Service roads would also be constructed along the main road along with sewerage system. Street lights would also be installed on the road.

Addressing the ceremony, the KMC administrator said that no representative of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had been elected from the area but even then the PPP was serving its residents.

Taking a jibe at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), he added that the PPP was fulfilling promises made by someone else. Development work was being carried out with full force in District Central, he maintained.

Wahab said the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) had started disposal of garbage in District Central. “The garbage problem has been resolved in the Nazimabad zone, and in the next two months, the problem of lack of cleanliness will be resolved in other areas too,” he added.

He said that 28 parks in the city had been renovated and opened to the public after they had been left deserted for years and turned into dumping ground for garbage.

He said that 17 roads were being constructed in the Site area, and a flyover with an underpass would be constructed at Jauhar Chowrangi in District East to solve traffic problems of the city.

The Karachi Medical and Dental College was a matter of pride for District Central, but it could not be converted into a university, Wahab said, adding that he kept his promise to convert it into a varsity and a formal approval had been sought from the cabinet in that regard. He stated that the varsity would be named Karachi Metropolitan University.

The KMC administrator was of the view that donors were not sought and no attention was paid to public-private partnership in the past, which severely affected development work in Karachi. Answering questions of media representatives, he said that in the coming days, the decision of the mayor would be made by the people of Karachi.

He said that work was under way on making amendments to the law governing powers of the mayor and municipal agencies.

The KMC administrator said that the increase in petrol prices announced by the federal government was inevitable. He added that earlier, the elite class was also benefitting from the subsidy on petrol but now that benefit had been restricted to the poor class only under the package announced by the prime minister.

He said that no matter how difficult the situation was, the country would be taken out of it. He said the PPP was trying to improve the working of local bodies.

Responding to another question, Wahab said that relevant work had been started before the monsoon season and cleaning of drains would be completed ahead of rains.

He said that a meeting was held on Friday in this regard with all the stakeholders and all the institutions had been directed to work beyond the territorial boundaries and produce results.

He expressed the hope that like last year, the citizens of Karachi would not face any hardships in the rainy season this year.