Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah while taking serious view of the collapse of a 66-inch dia sewerage line at Club road has directed water board to reconstruct all the old lines in the vicinity and prepare a plan for replacing all the old lines with new ones.

The 66-inch dia sewerage line laid in 1956 on club road collapsed this morning and a truck fell into it, as a result all the gutters feeding the line in Saddar area started overflowing.

The chief minister directed water board to restore the collapse portion of the line within 24 hours and simultaneously directed minister local government to replace all the old lines from Club Road, Ghazarfar Ali Khan Road upto Clifton pumping station (Bument Road).

The chief minister also issued directives to the water board MD to prepare a detailed scheme for replacing all the old sewerage lines with new ones in old city areas. He said that last time a 66-inch-dia sewerage line had collapse on Dr Ziauddin Road near CM House and it took a number of days in its rehabilitation. Now a line has sunk at Club road and would again cause serious problems for smooth flow of traffic, the chief minister said and added therefore new lines may be laid to make system improve.

Meanwhile, the chief minister has sought a report from the secretary local government about the repair of refuse vehicles by DMCs. He said that the government has already released Rs88 million to three DMCs: Korangi, West and Central and District council on October 14, 2019.

He said that he was keen to make cleanliness of the city sustainable and he was sure that the DMCs concerned would play their due role and make their district neat and clean.

The chief minister also directed secretary local government to issue necessary instructions to all the local bodies operating all over Sindh to maintain cleanliness in their areas. In case of backlog, the chief minister directed district municipal committees, corporations and districts councils to lunch special drive.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019