Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar was ordered by the judicial commission to enforce the ban on throwing of garbage into more than 500 drains in Karachi and remove encroachments from the same.
The order was passed by Justice (retd) Amir Hani Muslim while heading a Supreme Court-appointed judicial commission to investigate into the alleged failure of the provincial authorities in providing clean drinking water and sanitation conditions in Sindh.
The commission also ordered the Karachi mayor to ensure the staff of Chinese companies, which were awarded contracts to lift and dispose-off garbage in the city were not harassed by the KMC officials. It directed the Sindh government to ensure implementation of the laws banning the manufacturing and sale of polythene bags that do not dissolve after disposal.
Furthermore, the commission, with the consent of the parties, ordered that a board meeting should be convened within this month in order to look into the issues related to waterlogging in the water sources from the thermal power plant in Jamshoro. The commission ordered that the contractor will be paid the remaining outstanding bill by the company within 10 days and complete the project by June 30.
With the consent of the parties, the commission ordered that the central procurement committee will be re-notified during the course of the day to look into the purchase of medicines of the government hospitals in the province. It also ordered that Professor Dr Saeed Qureshi, the vice-chancellor of the Dow University of Medical Sciences, will be the committee’s chairperson.
The commission ordered that the committee will be authorised to have vigilance over the distribution of the supply to different hospitals, including all health facilities and to generate compliance report on the website for the public at large.
The commission adjourned the hearing till March 22.
Later, Justice (retd) Amir Hani Muslim, along with the Karachi mayor and other officers, went on a visit to inspect the drains which had been choked with garbage and because of lack of cleanliness.
