KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said his government is committed to improving the living standard of the people of Thar and for this purpose work on Rs18billion development schemes is under way.

The projects, which are at different stages of completion at present, would provide basic facilities of health, water, transport, road infrastructure, electricity and job opportunities to the people of Thar, he added.

The chief minister was presiding over a meeting on the Thar development schemes held at the new Sindh Secretariat on Tuesday.

He asked all the elected people right from local bodies to the National Assembly and Senate to play their due role by monitoring the execution of the projects.

Mr Shah said he would soon pay a visit to Tharparkar where he would formally hand over the control of reverse osmosis plants to the local bodies so that they could be maintained and remain functional.

Referring to the outbreak of dengue in the district, where 150 dengue fever cases have been reported, the chief minister said 17,000 dengue kits were purchased on his instructions and 1,000 of them were handed over to the Mithi district health office, while seven ULV (ultra low volume) fumigation machines were sent to the Thar district health office. He added that elected people ought to ensure proper fumigation and distribution of 74,000 mosquito bed nets.

Dams in Nagarparkar

Earlier, Additional Chief Secretary (Development) Mohammad Waseem said 17 ongoing schemes of Rs2,076.351 million would be completed by the end of June 2017. In all, he said, 118 ongoing schemes were being executed with the total cost of Rs17,713.775 million. He added that Rs972.952 million was being spent on road network in the district. Besides, he said two dams, Kalidas and Veeera Wah, in Nagarparkar area were launched at the total cost of Rs703.37 million on Feb 18, 2015. So far, he added, Rs35 million had been spent on the dam projects.

The elected representatives of the area said that both the dams were very necessary for Thar. The chief minister directed his principal secretary, Naveed Kamran Baloch, to coordinate between irrigation and finance departments so that this project could be expedited.

The meeting was attended by Senator Engineer Gianchand, Noor Ahmed Shah, Faqir Mohammad Bilalani, Dost Mohammad Rahmu, Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani, Khatu Mal, Ghulam Hyder Samejo, Karami Singh and high officials of the provincial government.

NDU course participants call on CM Senior bureaucrats and army officers as part of their national security and war course of the National Defence University called on Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at CM House on Tuesday.

The chief minister discussed with them a wide range of issues mainly dealing with the National Action Plan, China Pakistan Economic Corridor, legal and illegal immigrants from Afghanistan and other countries, renewable energy, revenue, rural development, women empowerment and land reforms.

The meeting was also attended by Sindh Chief Secretary Siddique Memon, IG Police A.D. Khwaja, Additional Chief Secretary (Development) Mohammad Waseem and other officers concerned.

Published in Dawn November 2nd, 2016