Karachi master plan notification to be issued without further delay: report

The Supreme Court-mandated commission on water and sanitation in Sindh was assured by a law officer that a notification regarding a Karachi master plan would be issued without further delay.

According to a local media report, the notification would be issued in the light of the 2007 judgment of the apex court, which stated that the provincial government should make a master plan for the metropolis and other major cities in the province. Following that, the commission head Justice (r) Amir Hani Muslim passed an order in March to the government to issue a formal notification regarding the same, which they failed to do so.

Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA)Director General Iftikhar Qaimkhani was quoted in the report as saying that “a summary to notify a master plan was floated to the competent authority, but it was returned with some qualifications, which were perhaps in violation of Article 189 (decisions of Supreme Court binding on other courts) of the Constitution”.

The additional advocate general has also sought time to file a report regarding the conversion of industrial plots into commercial ones within the industrial zones of Karachi.

This was done on the grounds that “the industries secretary had been transferred and the present secretary recently took over the charge while the appointment of a chief secretary was also made recently”.  Thus, the commission granted them time till October 9.

Moreover, the commission also ordered the owners and representatives of around 20 industrial units, located in the Nooriabad industrial estate, to install septic tanks within two months and warned that in case of non-compliance, their units would be sealed.