KARACHI:Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah on Wednesday visited various areas of metropolis and inspected the cleanliness arrangements in the city. Secretary local government Syed Najam Shah, Administrator KMC Laiq Ahmed, MD Solid Waste Management Board Zubair Channa and others accompanied him.
Shah visited Burns Road, Pakistan Chowk, MA Jinnah Road, Tower, Mauripur, Lyari, Liaquatabad, Civic Center, Old Sabzi Mandi, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Malir and other areas. He directed KMC and solid waste management board to ensure cleanliness around the mosques and Eid prayers venues so that citizens did not face any inconvenience on Eid day.
Talking to media at Kashmir Road Eid Ijtema Gah, Shah said that the third wave of covid was very worrying; it was the responsibility of all of them to stop its spread and follow the NCOC recommendations so as to save the precious lives.
The minister advised that Eid prayer gatherings should be held in open grounds, Eid should not be celebrated in the traditional way and embracing should be avoided. He said that two or three congregations should be held on Eid-ul-Fitr at same place to ensure social distancing. The minister said that in today’s Corona Task Force meeting, health experts told that the virus had increased by 30% on the last Eid and warned that covid ratio could surge after Eid if SOPs were not implemented on Eid.
Replying to a question, the minister said that Sindh government was strictly enforcing covid-19 SOPs and action was being taken on the complaint of violations of SOPs. He said that after home delivery, the restaurants had now been allowed take-away facility with SOPs. He said that the Sindh government was aware of plight of traders community and had launched Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Business Support Program to support traders through Sindh Bank.
In response to another question, Shah said that load shedding and breakdown caused a lot of damage to the water board installations. Water lines and water motors get damaged due to electricity failure and it also create disturbance in frequent supply of water to city. ‘Yesterday, I have directed secretary local government to write a letter to K Electric for compensation of water board losses,’ the minister added. The minister added that crackdown has been launched to stop theft and illegal concoction so as to improve the water supply in the city.
Replying to another question, he said that the route of Malir Expressway had been slightly changed as the Sindh government had to pay Rs8 billion compensation in the first route. The minister added that cost on Malir Expressway had been reduced with new route but no final decision had been made on this route yet.