KARACHI: A provincial law officer on Monday assured the Supreme Court-mandated commission on water and sanitation in Sindh that a notification regarding a master plan for Karachi in the light of the 2007 judgement of the SC would be issued without further delay.

The commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Amir Hani Muslim said that it had passed an order in March this year, directing the provincial government to issue a formal notification for a master plan of the provincial metropolis and other big cities of Sindh, which was approved by the Supreme Court through its judgement dated Oct 10, 2007.

Justice Muslim deplored that despite the directives of the Supreme Court as well as the commission, the provincial authorities had not issued the notification.

20 Nooriabad industrial units given two months to install septic tanks

Additional Advocate General of Sindh Shabbir Shah told the commission that it was not in his knowledge whether a notification of such nature had been issued.

However, Director General of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) Iftikhar Qaimkhani said that pursuant to the directive of the commission, 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 commission said it was refraining from commenting on those qualifications on the assurance of Mr Shah that the notification would be issued promptly in compliance with the order of the apex court and a compliance report would be submitted positively before the commission within two days.

Conversion of industrial plots into commercial

The additional advocate general has also sought time to file a report regarding conversion of industrial plots into commercial ones within the industrial zones of Karachi as well as in other parts of the province on the ground 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.

The commission granted time till Oct 9 with the direction to update the chief secretary and then inform it about the government’s point of view on the issue.

On Sept 17, the commission had expressed serious concerns over the construction of commercial plazas on industrial plots in SITE and observed that prima facie it was against the terms and defeated the very purpose of creating industrial zones.

“The spirit of the commercial activity is being misinterpreted here. Any commercial activity, if at all, should have been limited to that particular industry only in the shape of a fair-price shop,” it added.

Meanwhile, the commission issued notices to the owners of eight plots, located in Hyderabad, for in-person appearance on Oct 9 after the SBCA said that those plots were neither permitted for conversion from industrial to commercial use, nor the building plans were approved.

Installation of septic tanks

The commission directed 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.

It also granted four months to a number of industries to install treatment plants on their premises and cautioned to seal their factories if they failed to comply with the directive within the stipulated period.

Meanwhile, an advocate and some others filed complaints about a shortage of water, sewerage issues and encroachments on roads and the commission referred the matter to its focal person to address them.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2018