Fateha, condolence offered for Nishtar Park blast victims: Sindh Assembly prorogued sine die

The Sindh Assembly session was prorogued on Monday, sine die, leaving halfway the discussion on Nishtar Park bomb blast. Deputy Speaker Rahila Tiwana was in the chair.
The speakers expressed condolence and offered prayers for the victims, and demanded of the government to arrest the culprits. Though the opposition, especially MMA, wanted to malign coalition partners, but somehow good sense prevailed and all discussion remained controlled.
It was generally felt that the law and order situation in the province was deteriorating and the crime graph was going up. Earlier, during question hour, the House was informed that the Fire Brigade Department of Karachi City Government has a staff of 954, to man 31 fire tenders, according to January 28, 2006 report.
The House was told that the only snorkel the department has is under repair these days. Need of more snorkels was stressed.
In reply to a supplementary question, on behalf of the chief minister, the Minister for Planning and Development, Shoaib Bukhari, told the House that there were nine fire brigade offices in Karachi and plans were being finalised to set up more such offices to meet the growing needs of the city.
He said that the government would provide fire brigade services to all districts of Sindh during 2006-07. He said that the only snorkel the CDGH has was purchased when Dr Farooq Sattar was Mayor. Proposal to purchase three more was being examined and it was likely that the CDG would get these necessary vehicles soon.
In reply to another question he said that the Gandhi Gardens and Safari Park were being managed by CDGK and it was wrong to suggest that contractors were managing these two places.
He said that an amount of Rs 20.062 million was collected at the Zoological (Gandhi) Gardens, while expenditure of Rs 25.876 million was booked. At the Safari Park, Rs 5.862 million was collected during last fiscal year and Rs 6.102 million was booked as expenditure.
He said that efforts were being made to add more animals to the Zoological Gardens to attract more visitors so that collection at gate could be increased.
To a question from Hafiz Mohammed Naeem Shamozai, the chief minister, through his written answer, said that the process of granting lease to the people living in Katchi Abadis in Karachi was continuing in accordance with the procedure laid down under Sindh Katchi Abadis Act 1987 and SKAA's Regulations 1993.
To questions pertaining to Juma Goth, the minister said that it was not a 'kutchi abadi', and had been illegally occupied by land grabbers. He said that Afghanis had encroached upon the land and were reluctant to listen to CDGK officials to vacate the land.
He said there were 803 goths and half of them had been regularised. He said that the process of granting lease was on, and 526 such goths would be regularized in due course of time, after completing all legal requirements.
He said that maximum charges for lease of residential units would be Rs 25, Rs 30 and Rs 40 while for industrial plots the charges would be Rs 500 and above.
The minister said that the trend to set up 'katchi abadi' would not be tolerated, and all steps would be taken to discourage this practice.