Karachi Blog

City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal inaugurated the newly constructed Hasrat Mohani Model Park with a mini zoo in Union Council (UC) 6 of the Shah Faisal Town, on late Saturday evening.

Addressing an audience of thousands, Kamal said the process of accountability would remain functional and those who cannot work honestly better stay home.

He added that for laying water and sewerage lines in the metropolis, development projects of Rs16 billion were in progress. He also said that amount spent on these projects has started retrieving in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI) in IT Tower, Karachi Elevated Expressway (KEE) and several other development projects.

Kamal congratulated the residents and town administration on completion of the model park with its mini zoo. He expressed satisfaction over the ongoing development work in the town and applauded the efforts of the Town Nazim and his team in this regard.

The city Nazim optimistically said that in a very short period of time, these town Nazims have done a remarkable job which others could not do even in last 59 years.

The Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) has declared some remote areas of the metropolis as highly sensitive for examination centres for the SSC Part-II examinations, sources in the education department disclosed.

The city areas, declared sensitive include Orangi Town, Korangi, Landhi, Gushan-e-Hadeed, some examination centres in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Lyari, Dumba Goth and other far-flung areas. These complaints were lodged by Sharf-uz-Zaman of Private School Management Association to the Controller of Examination. He also requested Special Vigilant Team for conducting raid to various examination centres of the metropolis.

The report presented to the Controller of Examination revealed that students were being harassed and the conduct of examination was not transparent. In their report, an SVT headed by Sharf-uz-Zaman, Abu Fazal Rahim and Mohammad Umer said that they received complains about the examination centre No-40 Pre-Grammar School Sector-16 Gulshan-e-Ahbab, Orangi Town that students were being harassed by the invigilators.

The SVT reached the said centre but were not initially allowed by the invigilators to visit the centre. After a protest, the team was allowed to enter the centre where they found a classroom locked from inside. The SVT found five students solving their papers in the room.

The SVT also learnt that students who do not accept the ‘golden offer’ will go first for a thorough body search by the personnel of law-enforcement agencies deployed at the gate. These students have to go under another body search by the invigilators and then by the principal himself.

The report disclosed that policemen patrolling in the examination rooms and corridors with TT pistols in their hands were a constant source of harassment for the students. It added that those who accepted the ‘golden offer’ and prepared to cooperate were taken to separate rooms and allowed to solve their papers there with complete freedom of cheating.

The written complaints against Royal Educational Grammar School, Orangi, Little Flower’s English Secondary School, Ghaziabad, Prime Model Secondary School, Aziz Millat High School, Orangi, were also received for encouraging unfair means in the examinations.

Construction work on four flyovers in Karachi worth millions of rupees has been started by the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) from Saturday.

According to informed sources, these are: Nagan Chowrangi, Gulshan Chowrangi, Johar Chowrangi and Askari Chowrangi. The estimated cost of Nagan Chowrangi flyover is Rs 500 million and the cost of other three projects is Rs 450 million each.

City government claims that once these flyovers are completed there would be signal-free corridor from Nagan Chowrangi to Karachi airport. At present there exists a signal-free corridor from SITE to Sharea Faisal.

These are the first flyovers in Karachi which have been started without any tendering process to save time for facilitating the citizens. The consultants have been hired and soil testing of these flyovers has been started.

This is for the first time that the CDGK has adopted this methodology for the completion of these projects without causing delays owing to various kinds of hurdles. It is hoped that soil testing will be completed in a month and during this period tendering process will be completed.

Sources, however, added that with the passage of time adjustments could be made in these projects.

Improper arrangements and mismanagement dismayed a big audience at the international Mushaira, organized by the Saknan Shahar-e-Quaid Alami Mushaira Committee at the Science Campus of Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (FUUAST) on the night between Saturday and Sunday. Many prominent local and foreign poets could not read their poetry. Giving a lot of time to novice and little-known poets created despair among the audience. The Mushaira started two hours late on Saturday night at midnight and ended on Sunday dawn.

The proceedings of the Mushaira were interrupted many times due to mismanagement. Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan was supposed to attend the Mushaira as the chief guest, but he was unabel to due to his visit abroad.

However, Sindh Minister for Tourism Rauf Siddiqui did attend and announced a donation of Rs100,000 for the Alami Mushaira Committee. Later on, after protests from the participants, he raised it to Rs500,000. City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal was also present on the occasion.

The audience reacted negatively when Rauf Siddiqui read the poem on Majlis-e-Amal and uniform. Ten Indian poets were invited to attend the Mushaira, besides the same number of poets from other parts of the word.

The majority of the invited poets were not renowned and audience gave them a cold response. Interestingly, renowned Indian poets BaikalUtsahi, Raees Ansari and Munawar Rana, besides noted local poets Jamiluddin Aali, Sahar Ansari and others did not read their poetry, presumably due to paucity of time. Professor Inayat Ali, however, enthralled audience with hishumorous verses.

KARACHI: The Senate of the Federal Urdu University (FUU), Karachi in its meeting on Thursday has decided to appoint a high-profile committee comprising former Vice Chancellor (VC), Dr Ittefaq Ali, ex-registrar, Dr Aslam Farukhi, University of Karachi and Justice (retd) Ghous Mohammad to supervise the affairs of the university. The meeting was chaired by Aftab Ahmed Khan, who directed the acting VC of FUU to follow the instructions of the newly appointed committee. The senate has also decided to send the registrar of the university, whose appointment was found illegal, on a forced leave for three months.

Citizens from every part of the metropolis on Thursday criticised the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) for carrying out announced and unannounced load-shedding in their respective localities. They claimed that the unprincipled attitude of the corporation, especially during such hot and humid weather, had made lives really uneasy for them. Many people called at the offices of The News and showed their anger on the failure of on-going crisis of power supply. They demanded serious action against the administration of the KESC who were not supplying sufficient power to the city to fulfill the requirement.

The Jinnah Garden, union council (UC) 1, Malir Town will soon have street-lights and within Rs50,000, said Nazim Malir Town, Ansar Ahmed Sheikh.

During the inauguration ceremony of the water pipeline project in the area, Sheikh said that every house in the vicinity will receive water at their doorstep. According to a press release issued on Thursday, the spokesperson stated that the budget for the road of the UC1 has been approved and they were waiting for the completion of the water pipeline project to start the work. The town nazim stated that the town administration was working in every UC without any discrimination and the project of sewerage pipeline at Jaffar Tiyar Society, worth Rs25 million is an example of it. Furthermore, the recent development works conducted in Malir town were never done before. He also said that Rs70 million were spent on the projects at Model Colony, UC1 and no such example was available in the past to compare it with the work conducted by the current town administration.

SHAH FAISAL TOWN: The Nazim Shah Faisal Town, Mohammad Imran has directed his staff to remove sewerage lines from storm water drains. He said this while inspecting the ongoing fumigation and anti-malarial campaign during his visit to the UCs of the town. He stated that the cleanliness drive will remain active till the drains are completely cleaned. He instructed his team to take all possible measures to facilitate the people with a clean and healthy environment and the concerned department was ordered to immediately dispose solid wastes taken out of these drains during their cleanliness campaign so that the public has no complaints.

BALDIA TOWN: The town administration of Baldia Town was using all available resources to facilitate the people of the town, said Nazim Baldia Town, Kamran Akhtar on Thursday. A press release issued by the town administration said that they were focussing on every issue related to the town and were facilitating people without any discrimination. While inspecting the C.C Flooring project at the UC 4-F and 4-G, the town nazim stated that such a project will provide a base for a fundamental infrastructure of the town.

LYARI TOWN: The Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) has warned the public to stop the selling and purchasing of shops that are part of the Karachi Financial Tower Project (KFTP).

A press release said that the KBCA has declared the advertisement and selling of the shops under the KFTP illegal, especially since they don’t have an NOC. .

In addition to the warning, partition walls of fifth and sixth floor and roof of plot No 744, street no. 15/16, E Road Bahar Colony, Lyari town were demolished by KBCA as it was illegal.

SITE TOWN: The SITE town municipal administration has launched a cleanliness campaign. According to a media release.

The Adviser to the Chief Minister Sindh for Information Technology (IT), Nauman Saigal, has announced that the smart green energy project has been functional from Thursday. He said this while presiding over a meeting of the EDO of IT at his office. The representatives of the German firm FESH, who have invested in this project, were also present on the occasion.

In a press release issued on Thursday, Saigal said that the project will assist to generate solar energy through automation process which will provide cheap electricity to the people. Describing the project, he added that it will help to overcome the increasing demand of electricity in the prevailing crisis. He told the EDO present in the meeting that the project is a pilot enterprise and will provide electricity to small villages and far flung areas which are deprived of electricity. He also ordered IT sectors of every district to educate the area people.

Saigal stressed the need to obtain services of different banks and leasing companies to process easy loans to the low income class, enabling them to avail the facilty of the smart green energy project.

KARACHI: From the very first working day after the closure of I I Chundrigar Road to public transport, the passengers of this route suffered an hours-long traffic jam and several traffic gridlocks on the diverted route from Merewether Tower towards M. A Jinnah Road for multiple reasons. The traffic police personnel had a tough time in the field under scorching heat, and few said in the light of past experience the given diversion was not a wise decision.

A survey of the alternative routes revealed that the traffic from Keemari and West Wharf was diverted at Jinnah Bridge towards ICI bridge up to Baghdadi Chowk from where it used Ghulam Allana Road through the Kharadar Jamaat Khana up to Merewether Tower from where it was again diverted to M. A. Jinnah Road till Memon Masjid and from there it was diverted on Shahrea Liaquat towards Aram Bagh Chowk on Baba-e-Urdu Road from where it joined its old route.

Things didn’t work as planned by the traffic police and the city government who according to DIG traffic made this plan after coordination between them. The traffic was diverted from ICI Bridge at Baghdadi Chowk and from there on it was diverted towards Kharadar Jamaat Khana where the traffic remained jammed for more than half-an-hour due to a gridlock at the main Tower. On further movement it was noted that at Tower the traffic could not be allowed through immediately. The vehicles parked in double lanes on the road along railway warehouse occupied most of the road and what worsened the situation even further was the cars and motorcyclists who drove into the third lane on MA Jinnah Road that was supposed to be used by traffic coming towards Tower just at the beginning of M. A Jinnah Road.

Sergeants present on the spot didn’t seem happy at all and when asked, they behaved as if they had been punished by the authorities. “I have not been able to move an inch since morning,” said another sergeant at Baghdadi Chowk. On condition of anonymity, he said, “We are just asked to regulate traffic whatever the situation but the authorities never think about our problems.” He further said that they did not even have masks to protect themselves against air pollution.

The other factors that contributed in traffic blockades were the U-turns taken by cars and motorcyclists blocking the traffic from the opposite side and the parking along M. A Jinnah Road and Shahrea Liaquat. In addition to this, the non-mechanised commercial vehicles also halted the flow of traffic on the alternate route. The motorcyclists were complaining of open manholes and sewage accumulated at some points on the alternative roads. The pedestrians also suffered and mainly complained against non-stop pressure horns and the thick smoke-emitting from old, rickety buses.

Those in cars used Mumtaz Hassan Road and Maulvi Tameezuddin Road for both commuting and parking while few made their way over the rubble of the dug-up road to their offices. It may be worth mentioning here that Rauf Siddiqi declared M. A. Jinnah Road a No-parking zone, but many vehicles were seen parked on this road. When contacted, the DIG traffic said, “I don’t have a big strength of traffic personnel, which makes things difficult for me. Besides, this violation (illegal parking) is always on the cards in all big cities of the world”.