Daily Times

Karachi: The Supreme Court-appointed commission on water quality in Sindh on Tuesday ordered that if found in contradiction with relevant laws, all newly constructed housing schemes in the city should be demolished, including the controversial Bahria Town.

Earlier in the day, the commission, headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim, was informed by Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) director general Agha Masood Abbas that construction in Bahria Town was taking place without proper approval.

Upon this, Justice Muslim inquired as to why an investigation had not been initiated against Bahria Town. Abbas replied, “A report has been submitted to the Sindh government against Bahria Town.”

“Under what law was the report submitted?” Justice Muslim asked, also inquiring as to how many other such housing schemes exist.

The retired justice then issued orders for the demolition of all illegally constructed buildings, saying that the city had been destroyed under the guise of housing schemes.

Abbas informed the commission that a notice had been issued to the Bahria Town administration.

Meanwhile, the local governments secretary brought the matter of Karachi Development Authority’s (KDA) merger with SBCA to the court’s notice, citing the merger as the reason for the existing administrative crisis in the metropolis.

The commission also ordered SBCA to investigate the issue of encroachments alongside rivers and nullahs in the city. “Only those who have obtained a lease for their dwellings will be given compensation,” the retired justice ordered.

Upon this, Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar requested the commission to provide compensation to the residents of Gujar nullah area.

He said it would be a difficult undertaking to make the residents vacate their homes, to which the commission replied, “nothing is difficult if courage is shown.”

The Karachi mayor said that nearly 500 nullahs are lying polluted due to the carelessness of the residents, following which the commission instructed the internal affairs secretary to implement Section 144 against dumping garbage and waste into the nullahs.

Following the proceedings, the members of SC-appointed commission along with the Karachi mayor and heads of all relevant authorities visited the polluted river sites and expressed displeasure over their decrepit state.

On Saturday, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had expressed his displeasure over the heaps of garbage that have become a regular feature of Karachi’s cityscape and ordered the relevant authorities to ensure that all trash is removed within the week.

“I want a neat and clean Karachi within a week,” CJ Nisar ordered while hearing a citizen’s rights case concerning Sindh’s water and sewerage problems in the Supreme Court’s Karachi registry.

During the proceedings, Justice Nisar recalled that Mayor Waseem Akhtar was supposed to resolve the garbage issue. He ordered Akhtar to explain who was responsible for removing trash from the city.

The city mayor, who was present for the proceedings, held that the responsibility for waste management lied with the provincial government, reiterating his earlier stance that all his powers in this regard had been shifted to the province.

Published in Daily Times, March 21^st 2018.