Carrying brooms, wipers and brushes, schoolchildren of Lyari gathered at Mauripur Road to register their protest against dilapidated infrastructure in nearby Agra Taj Colony, here on Tuesday. "I could not pass through the streets to reach my school," Sameer Ali, a grade eight student, told Business Recorder. He also had a broom and vented anger over relevant local administration. He lamented that government is least interested in the future of youngsters.
"We have contacted our Union Committee (UC) chairman Tajuddin but he always gives lame excuses and asserts he has no funds for repair and maintenance work of sewerage system," Sameer said. Agra Taj Colony is one of the neighbourhoods of Lyari town and had been part of the constituency of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari who served Pakistan as President and Prime Minister as well but their constituency wears an ugly look due to lack of required facilities despite the fact that Agra Taj Colony is the first leased colony of Lyari Town.
Large number of schoolchildren raised slogans at the busiest Mauripur Road with brooms and wipers in their hands. They also criticised the government and municipal authorities for pathetic sanitation conditions. The protesting children asked the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of the grim issues of the neighbourhood.
"Choked sewerage system, heaps of garbage on streets and unavailability of clean drinking water are the major issues due to which people suffer the most but the government agencies have turned a deaf ear to the genuine public demand to redress these issues," Syed Abdul Rasheed, of chief of Karachi District South chapter of Jamaat-e-Islami said, talking to media persons.
One of the banners of the protesting children read: "Uncle Chief Justice! We have to pass through sewerage water to attend our schools." JI's Rasheed warmed the Sindh government and district administration to resolve the said issues within a week; otherwise, thousands of students would block the Mauripur road after expiry of his the deadline. He also requested the CJP to take suo-motu notice of embezzlement in funds allocated for development projects in Lyari.
Talking to this scribe, Coordinator of DMC South Habib Hassan said district administration has initiated uplift schemes in the affected area. "We have invited tenders for repair work of sewerage infrastructure and work will begin soon," he said, adding that sewage pumping machines would be installed in the area for draining sewage water into sea. He promised to fix the sewerage and cleanliness issues within a month.