KARACHI, May 18: Amid loud applause from Lyari Town’s councillors, City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal announced on Thursday a Rs805 million package for development of Lyari Town.

The development schemes include an ambitious project of providing additional six million gallons of water per day for solving lingering water problem of the town.

Unfolding details of the package at a well-attended gathering of the town and its 11 UC nazims and councillors, he said of the total amount of the package, Rs290m would be spent on laying of a new pipeline from Gharibabad to Lyari for supplying additional six mgd to the town from the recently commissioned 100 mgd project while the remaining Rs518m would be spent on as many as 39 uplift projects.

He pointed out that Lyari Town had been given a maximum quota of 6 mgd from the K-III project whereas the other towns have been allocated a quota of either four mgd or less from the K-III project. The ceremony held at the Lyari Town’s office was attended, among others, by Lyari Town’s Nazim Malik Mohammad Faiyaz, Naib Nazim Abdullah Baloch, DCO Fazalur Rehman, KWSB’s managing director Brig Iftikhar Haider and city government’s executive district officers of works and services and information technology.

He said that Lyari, despite being the oldest locality of the city, had always remained in the grip of various problems. The present leadership of the city government which believes in serving the people without any discrimination had chalked out a comprehensive plan for developing its infrastructure and improving its water and out-dated sewerage systems.

The other projects to be executed under the plan include construction of roads, development of parks and playgrounds, construction of major markets and provision of other basic amenities.

He said as soon as he became Nazim, he was asked by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s leadership that he is bound to serve the people of all the 18 towns of the city irrespective of their party affiliations, caste, creed and colour.

He said shortly after assuming the Nazim’s charge he held a meeting with the nazims of Lyari, Bin Qasim, Gadap and Keamari to know the problems of their respective towns although they did not belong to Haq Parast group and took some concrete decisions to solve them.

He mentioned that the CDGK had recently given Rs50m each to all the 18 towns for laying and improving their water and sewerage lines. Mr Kamal said that he would continue to provide same amount of funds to all the 18 towns for development activities in their respective jurisdictions without any discrimination as there was great deal of harmony among all town nazims.

He recalled that only recently when Lyari Town’s Nazim informed him that the entire garbage collection work in town had come to standstill as there were no funds for providing diesel to refuse collecting vans, he provided Rs5m to the nazim the very next morning for diesel so that people residing in the town might not suffer owing to non-lifting of garbage.

At the outset, he regretted that although city contributes to 70 per cent to the national exchequer, water and sewerage lines in most parts of the city were in a shambles as these were laid more than 30 to 40 years back.

Mr Kamal said since they believe in practical measures and not the cosmetics ones, he allocated a huge funds for replacing the out-lived water and sewerage pipelines.

He said that the new water pipeline which was being laid to help solve the town’s water problem for 30 years would be made operational in a record period of six months while other development plans would be accomplished in one-and-a-half year at an estimated cost of Rs808m and shortly afterwards this mount would be doubled for undertaking more and more welfare-oriented projects in the town.

COMPUTERS: The Nazim also handed computers to nazims of all the 11 union councils of the town for computerisation of record of birth and deaths certificates of their respective UCs. He also had a detailed meeting with the nazims of the UCs to know the problems of their areas.

Earlier, Mr Kamal mingled with people and discussed their problems while visiting different parts of Lyari Town.

In his welcome address, Lyari Town’s Nazim, Malik Mohammad Faiyyaz, expressed his gratitude to the city Nazim for taking keen interest in solving the town’s problems.

Describing water as the major issue of the town, he hoped that with the laying of new pipeline, people residing in the town would get rid of persisting acute water shortage.

Referring to a number of warehouses whose leases had already expired, he demanded of the city nazim to hand over these warehouses to the town after getting them vacated so that the town could set up welfare-oriented projects, such as gymnasiums and dispensaries.