HYDERABAD, Aug 5: Veteran leader of Pakistan People’s Party Mohammad Usman Kennedy on Tuesday accused builder mafia of taking over the entire city in connivance with district officials, HDA and nazims.

Mr Kennedy said at a news conference at the press club here that the mushroom growth of multistorey buildings, plazas and flats had spoiled the historical city’s face and made living conditions worse for people.

The lopsided construction of flats had turned Hyderabad into a jungle of haphazardly erected concrete structures. In place of one house over 150 yards there were now 20 flats, causing acute shortage of water and power supply, he said, adding that the sewerage system could not bear the load.

He said that the builder mafia charged millions of rupees per flat, which appeared to be built for hens rather than human beings. They had become so greedy that they did not leave space even for parking which was a mandatory provision.

High rise buildings in the most congested areas where many educational institutions were located led to traffic jams outside the schools, the PPP leader said.

He said that the proof of loot and plunder by the builder mafia and the authorities could be witnessed in the construction of all multistorey buildings where substandard material was being used.

To a question as to what his party was doing to bring the situation under control, Mr Kennedy said that he knew that his party would not take any action against the present set-up and appealed to the Sindh chief minister and local bodies minister to have mercy on the historic city.

SAU: The Sindh Agriculture University’s administration rescheduled the registration of second, fourth, sixth and eighth regular (spring) semester-2008 and second term regular 2008 of all faculties including ITC for the academic year 2007-08.