Sindh cabinet decides to protect Karoonjhar, designates Khasar as granite mining area

KARACHI: The provincial cabinet has decided to protect the entire Karoonjhar as cultural and heritage sites, forests, and a wildlife sanctuary/Ramsar Site and designated the Khasar as a granite mining area, subject to clearance from the Forest & Wildlife Department.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah here at CM House on Thursday. It was attended by provincial ministers, advisors, chief secretary Asif Hyder Shah and other concerned officers.

Granite Mining: The cabinet was informed that during the caretaker government, a proposal was initiated to launch the Granite Excavation Project at Nagarparkar.

According to the Geological Survey of Pakistan’s 2015 report, there are around 14 billion metric tons of Granite in Nagarparkar spread over 11 different locations. However, the Mines & Mineral department mentioned that the Sindh High Court, on October 16, 2023, banned excavation in the Nagarparkar area due to the presence of cultural/heritage sites, forest, and a wildlife sanctuary/Ramsar Site. The Sindh government has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, which ordered that any government policy for mining in Karoonjhar hills should consider the competing interests of wildlife/forest, environment, and heritage.

As a result, the Cabinet committee identified the Khasar Area, located 25 km away from Nagarparkar, where the potential for granite excavation indicated an area of 3.6 sq km, as per the GSP Report 2015. The committee found that the Khasar Area has no overlapping with forest areas. Subsequently, the cabinet approved Khasar as Granite mining in the area subject to the clearance of Forest & Wildlife.

Grant for PAF: On the recommendation of the health dept the Sindh cabinet approved a Rs3.84 billion grant-in-aid Patients’ Aid Foundation (PAF), for the Procurement of Medical Equipment and supply of utilities for a new 12-storied 532-bedded medical complex including a dedicated floor for cardiology and six-storied 60-bedded government officers’ ward at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Karachi.

The amount would be released in two instalments, Rs2.13 billion in 2024-25 and Rs1.71 million in 2025-26.

Swift registration of Vehicles: The cabinet approved the Amendment in the Provincial Motor Vehicle Ordinance (PMVO) 1965 to ensure swift registration of vehicles, enhance public safety by preventing the misuse of unregistered vehicles for illegal activities. On top of it to improve revenue collection.

The salient features of the amendments are as follows:

Driving unregistered vehicles in Sindh will be prohibited.

All local or imported vehicles must be registered before being allowed on the roads. Registration be completed at registration counters or points within manufacturing units and ports.

Dealers and showroom owners are prohibited from selling unregistered vehicles.

Responsibility for registration irregularities placed on dealers and showroom owners.

Peoples Houses’ exclusion cases : The cabinet was told that a certain number of affectees whose houses were collapsed/damaged during the floods were excluded during the joint survey. Since the validation was the purpose, therefore inclusion was not encouraged. The CM said that there were 15000 cases of inclusion lying with SPHF.

The CM with the consent of the cabinet directed the CEO SPHF to start considering the cases excluded earlier.

The Sindh cabinet decided to train 20,000 masons so that they could construct climate resilient houses. The training would cost around Rs140 million.

The cabinet was told that there were 111,000 individuals identified as persons with disabilities (PWD) who lost their homes in the recent floods. The cabinet decided to construct ramps for accessibility in their house.

Additionally, it was decided that an additional Rs50,000 would be given to the PWDs to help them meet the construction requirements of their houses.

In an unprecedented decision, the CM on the instructions of Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari decided that people with houses on government land near the flood-affected areas would be given land titles.

Construction of two bridges: The Irrigation Department informed the cabinet that during the 2022 floods, Manchar Lake at Sehwan experienced a significant disaster. The lake, which collects water from an area of 37000 square miles encompassing the Nari-Bolan basin, Mari-Bugti Hills, and the Kirthar Ranges, received a massive influx of flash floods.

During the floods, the floodwaters followed the FP Bund route as surface runoff through the MNV Drain and reached Manchar Lake before flowing into the Indus River. However, due to the limited capacity of Manchar Lake, two relief cuts were created at RD 14 and RD 52 to release water from the lake into the Indus River. These relief cuts were made along natural waterways, including the Aral Wah and Danistar Canal. However, these waterways are intersected by the Indus Highway, causing blockages to the passage of floodwater from Manchar Lake to the Indus River.

Aral Wah Bridge: Regarding the Aral Wah bridge, the existing Aral Head Regulator is situated at MC RD 0+000 at Aral Wah with a discharge capacity of 10,500 cusecs, consisting of three gates. However, during the recent 2022 floods, it was evident that the existing capacity of the Manchar Lake outflow channel was insufficient to release the floodwater. Consequently, after a thorough investigation and survey, the construction of a new regulator at RD 2+300 with a design discharge capacity of 52,500 cusecs was proposed. The new regulator is equipped with 14 gates.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024