Poor infrastructure main hindrance to Karachi uplift: PDP Chairman Altaf Shakoor
KARACHI, March 30 (SABAH): Poor infrastructure of the megacity Karachi is the main hindrance to its development but sadly the federal and provincial governments are not investing generously to this crucial sector, said Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor on Sunday.
He said the megacity has a lot of potential for economic growth and creating new job opportunities but its crumbling civic infrastructure is not able to support materializing these opportunities. He said the federal and provincial governments are generating huge tax revenues from Karachi but they are not ready to reinvest a sufficient portion of it back in the infrastructure development of the megacity. He said if the rulers reinvest resources in modernization of the civic infrastructure of Karachi they could double and triple their revenue collection from it.
Altaf Shakoor said pot-holed roads, encroachments on streets, water scarcity, inadequate public transport and street crimes are amongst the pressing issues of Karachi but the government is not ready to divert resources to resolve them on priority. He said being a beach city Karachi has a huge potential for tourism but the government is also not ready to recognize and tap it properly.
He said urbanized centres are hubs of revenue and job generation and Karachi could do a lot in these crucial sectors if its civic infrastructure is developed as per the contemporary needs. He said the crucial Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) is still in limbo as the rulers diverted resources to develop Lahore’s rail-based commuting system. He said many cities smaller than Karachi in other countries have their own underground railway systems but Karachi is even deprived of its surface-based railway transportation system.
Altaf Shakoor said there is a need to open new universities, medical and engineering colleges, technical schools and teaching hospitals in Karachi but the government and private sector both are shying away to invest in these sectors. He said that the Sindh government’s present hospitals in Orangi, Liaquatabad, Korangi, Malir, Ibrahim Haideri and Gadap could be easily upgraded as teaching hospitals. He said more private medical colleges could also be opened in Karachi where thousands of students do not find seats every year in its medical and dental colleges. He said many local students go to the central Asian republics to get medical education from there which is not only costly but also substandard.
He said there is an infrastructure development company in Karachi, besides Karachi Development Authority (KDA) but their performance is not up to the mark. He said the KMC has a budget of billions of rupees, but practically it is just a big white elephant. He said the elected local government in Karachi is overall a spectacular failure when it comes to the civic infrastructure development of the megacity.
Altaf Shakoor demanded a huge anti- encroachment operation in Karachi after the Eid to free its roads, streets and footpaths from the squatters. He said this would not only give an urbanized face to the megacity but also resolve traffic jams and help decrease fatal road accidents. He said in the recent fatalities in road mishaps in Karachi a big factor is traffic congestion due to encroachments. He said illegal Katchi Abadis are hubs of crime and drug peddlers and a strict action is overdue against the land grabbers.
He said the megacity civic infrastructure development should also come under the sharp focus of SIFC as it is directly related to an accelerated industrialization. He appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and COAS General Syed Asim Munir to give personal attention to the civic infrastructure development of Karachi and provision of the needed funding in this regard.