SC directs NDMA to clean all drains in Karachi

KARACHI (92 News) - The Supreme Court (SC) has directed National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to clean all Karachi drains and remove encroachments around them on Wednesday. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed and comprising Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard a case of illegal encroachments on drains at the SC Karachi Registry. During the hearing, the CJP Gulzar asked Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shallwani about the ongoing cleaning work on Karachi sewerage drains. The Karachi commissioner informed the court that NDMA has cleaned city’s three main drains. At which, the CJP Gulzar asked why NDMA hasn’t completed cleaning work of other Karachi drains? “This was the responsibility of Sindh government to clean Karachi’s drains, but the federal intervened after the provincial government failed to clean Karachi drains,” he remarked. The SC directed NDMA to clean all Karachi drains and remove encroachments around them in three months. The court also ordered the Sindh government to fully assist NDMA in the cleaning process and encroachments drains. During the encroachment case, CJP Gulzar remarked that people are building houses on drains. "There are mafias here whose sole purpose is to earn money, all the projects started in Sindh have been wasted," he maintained.