JAMSHORO: Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice Maqbool Baqar has urged the federal government to start work on the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorways (M-6) at least on those portions where land acquisition issues have been resolved.
“I know the construction of M-6 was stopped when the scandal of land acquisition was unearthed but now the land acquisition process has been completed by the committee under Commissioner through a joint digital survey the work should be started,” he said.
This he issued on Saturday while presiding over a meeting of the Hyderabad Divisional administration at the camp of DC Jamsjhoro at Sehwan. The meeting was attended by Minister Irrigation Ishwarl Lal, Chief Secretary Dr Fakhre Alam, Commissioner Karachi Khalid Hyder Shah, Secretary IrrigationNiaz Abbasi, Secretary Works Nawaz Sohoo, DIG Hyderabad Tariq Dharejo, CEO Peoples Housing for Flood affected people and other concerned.
Commissioner Hyderabad Khalid Hyder Shah briefing the chief minister about the progress of under-construction of Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway (M-6) said that it has a length of 396 km, including 105 km in Hyderabad Division. He added that the total land required in Hyderabad Division was 2,428 acres.
The CM was told that the land acquisition process of M-9 was stopped temporarily due to the embezzlement of funds. The process started afresh after key rectifications. A Committee under Commissioner Hyderabad has completed joint surveys / Fresh Demarcations with digital coordinates.
The commissioner said that only a portion of Matyari was yet to be completed. At this, the CM directed the chief secretary to talk to the federal government and get the suspended work resumed on M-6.
The CM directed the divisional administration to focus on facilitating general elections and strengthening the drive against electricity theft drive and price control operations against hoarders and illegal profiteers.
The CM directed the divisional administration to ensure the smooth completion of all the projects involving Land Acquisition and resolving traffic Congestion – parking problems In Urban Centers and improvement of Infrastructure, particularly Parks and playground
He also urged the administration to support and ensure to carrying out of routine Immunization Programs and Polio Eradication as Per the National Emergency Action Plan.
Law and Order: DIG Hyderabad Tariq Dharejo briefing the CM on overall law and order said that there were nine districts in his Range which has 42 police subdivisions and 156 police stations. The total strength of the police force, including 10 SSPs is 18529.
Talking about registered Crimes, the DIG told the CM that 2761 cases of crime against persons were registered in which 1883 accused were challaned, of them 33 were convicted, 331 were acquitted, and 1482 cases were under trial.
The CM was told that during 2023 1908 cases of crime against property were registered, of which 1124 were challaned. The courts convicted 21, acquitted 186, and 916 cases were still under trial. Similarly, 5675 cases of local and Special Law were registered, of which 5454 were challenged – out of them 259 were convicted, 1356 were acquitted, and 3636 cases were under trial.
The CM directed the police to evolve a comprehensive strategy to eliminate the menace of Gutka and Maipuri in the entire Hyderabad Division. The DIG said that he has shown zero tolerance for drug trafficking. He added that 2701 cases have been registered under the law of Gutka Mainpuri Act 2019 in the year 2023 and 3924 accused were arrested. Approximately Rs. 2793 million recoveries has been made.
Irrigation: Chief Engineer Irrigation Sardar Shah briefing the CM said that there were 361 drains, including 361 each in Sukkur Barrage Command Area, and Kotri Barrage Command, 110 Sukkur and Kotri Barrage Command (LBOD) and five Guddu Barrage Command with a total length of 4970 miles. RBOD-II 2773 km of RBOD-II are under-construction.
He was told that the factors leading to huge devastation (flood-2022) include climate change, unprecedented hill torrents from the Kirthar Range to Bugti Range of Koh-e-Suleman, heavy rainfall- highest recorded in the past 62 years, heavy riverine flows in Indus River aggravated the situation and limited capacity of RBOD-III and Manchhar Lake system and on top of it non-operationalization of RBOD-II.
The CM was told that 10 works at Shahbaz Division under Sukkur Barrage Right Bank region, Larkana would be completed by December 2023.
Flood-affected House: CEO Sindh Peoples Housing for Flood Affectees (SPHFA) Khalid Shaikh said that the heavy rains of 2022 submerged 70 percent of the province, therefore the government declared 24 out of 30 districts as calamity-hit areas. A total of 12.36 million people were affected and 2.1 million houses were damaged or destroyed.
KhalidShaikh said that 50 percent of destroyed houses were located on state land, 31 percent on private-owned land, and 19 percent on land. Therefore, the Sindh government decided to grant lease of the houses to the people living on state land.
Talking about District Jamshoro, Mr Shaikh said that 60,609 houses were damaged, of them 30,319 in Sehwan, 15,577 in Kotri, and 4,715 in Thano Bola Khan.
An interesting data, the CEO SPHF shared with CM was 596,793 women households were verified for reconstruction of the houses in Sindh. Of them, 121,817 were widows, 34,382 unaccompanied women elders, 4250 women with disabled husbands, and 3020 divorced/abandoned/unmarried older women dependent on others.
The CM was told that 600,000 houses would be completed by June 2024. The CM visited a Wali Gaincho where 60 houses were under construction. He met with the household women and then at a ceremony he handed over the Sanad of their houses at a ceremony organized at Sehwan Fort.
Visits: The CM paid a surprise visit to Rural Health Center (RHC) Arazi and talked to the patient present there. He expressed his displeasure with the shortage of life-saving medicine and, the unavailability of anti-snake cerium and anti-rabid dog vaccines. The RHC was covering a population of 30,000 souls but their X-ray machine was out of order and the condition of the hospital was poor.
He was told that the RHC was being managed by the PPHI and he directed the chief secretary who was accompanied by him to talk to the PPHI administration and resolve the issues.
The CM inspected a 3.2 km under-construction Road from village Ghulam Nabi Chhuto village to Hadi Bux Chhuto Village where Secretary Works Nawaz Sohoo briefed him about the pace and quality of the work. He also inspected 2.4 km Road connecting Wali Gaincho village to the main Highway.
The CM went to Arral Wah Head where rehabilitation work was in progress. He directed the Secretary of Irrigation to ensure the quality of the work and timely completion.
The CM during his visit to Syed Abdullah Shah Institute of Medical Sciences inspected its emergency, ICU, ventilators, and four operation theaters and expressed his satisfaction. Directed the Director of the institute Dr Moinuddin Siddiqui to keep it up.
At the outset of his visit to Sehwan, interim Chief Minister Maqbool Baqar went to the shrine of Lal Shabaz Qalandar, laid a floral wreath, and offered fateh, and then started his visit of the uplift works and chaired a meeting at DC Office.