KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmakers on Friday highlighted the issue of Hyderabad water crisis in the Sindh Assembly by chanting slogans and staged a token walkout when the chair ignored their protest and allowed a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf legislator to read out his call attention notice.

“If you don’t listen to him, I will also not listen to you,” said Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani amid slogans of “Pani do, Pani do, Hyderabad ko Pani do” by the MQM lawmakers soon after the questions hour while giving floor to PTI lawmaker Khurram Sher Zaman.

As MQM lawmaker rose from their benches, the PTI legislator asked the chair to call the house in order. The chair had assured MQM lawmaker Dilawar Qureshi that after completion of the business from the agenda, he would be allowed to take up the issue. But the assurance failed to convince the agitating lawmakers who converged in front of the speaker’s rostrum before staging a token walkout.

Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro described the protest as the “politics of building pressure on the government to pay salaries to the ghost employees of Hyderabad Development Authority”

“Political workers would no longer be paid any salary, but government servants who have been found discharging their responsibilities regularly will certainly get the payment.”

The house was called to order at 11.15am when Speaker Durrani alerting the lawmakers informed the house that the resignations received from MQM dissidents Dr Sagheer Ahmad and Mohammad Iftikhar Alam had been accepted after scrutiny and were being forwarded to the election commission.

While the agitating lawmakers returned to their seats after a few minutes, Deputy Speaker Syeda Shehla Raza, who had taken over the speaker’s seat by then, gave the floor to the local government minister who announced that the grant to the HDA would be released within 10 days but ghost employees and political workers of any party would not be paid salaries. Only the employees who have been performing their duties would be paid salary, he said.

Responding to the call attention notice of Mr Zaman, the minister recalled the steps being taken to overcome the water shortage in Karachi and said tenders for a 100MGD water supply project would be opened on April 21, while those for 65MGD water project would be opened on April 29. Work on the K-IV project would also start soon by the FWO, he said.

Besides, he claimed, free water tanker service had been initiated in the localities facing water scarcity.

In reply to the call attention notice of MQM lawmaker Syed Nadeem Razi, Mr Shoro said no infrastructure had been put in place by the water board in half of the settlements which were the outcome of ‘china-cutting’. He added that the MQM friends were very well aware of those behind the ‘china-cutting’.

Annoyed at the agitation, the deputy speaker called it a day at 12.30pm to reassemble on Monday at 10am.

Earlier, MQM lawmaker Muhammad Hussain congratulated newly elected lawmakers of the party Muhammad Kamal and Faisal Rafique. Speaker Durrani also extended greetings to them.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2016