CJP gives one week deadline to clean up Karachi

KARACHI: Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nasir has expressed anger over heaps of garbage in Karachi and ordered that the metropolis be cleaned within a week.

A three-member bench of Supreme Court’s Karachi Registry, headed by the CJP, was hearing a case on the report of Sindh’s supply and drainage commission on Saturday.

During the court proceedings, the CJP observed that Karachi’s cleanliness situation has deteriorated with time. “I don’t know how but clean the city. I don't want to see trash on streets of Karachi anymore,” he observed.

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The CJP remarked that whenever he comes to the city he stays in Bath Island, adding that he spent the entire last night killing mosquitoes. 

Heaps of garbage have clogged drains while trash piles are seen everywhere, he remarked, questioning whose job it was to clean the city. He reasoned that it is the job of Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar.

The CJP then questioned the mayor on who was responsible for cleaning the city. To this, the mayor replied that those powers resided with the Sindh government.

'4.6 tonnes of trash not being picked up'

Sindh Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon accepted before the court that about 4.6 tonnes of garbage was not being picked up in the city, adding that some roads in the city have not been cleaned since last six months.

Over this, the CJP remarked that Waseem Akhtar was right: this is the job of DMCS [district municipal corporations], which are subordinate to the Sindh government.

The chief secretary also informed the court the system for picking up trash in the city has been improved and garbage is being picked up.

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Responding to this, the CJP remarked that if the system has improved then why wasn't work being done? To this, the chief secretary replied: “We have accepted the situation but change is coming now."

Moreover, CJP observed that awareness should be created among people as to where the garbage should be disposed.

The city mayor said that cleaning trash from the city will take at least 10 years, adding that there is a lot of trash in all districts of Karachi. “The city has been destroyed, the Sindh government keeps all revenue from tax with itself.”

Over this, the CJP pointed out that Akhtar was voted in by the people of the city. “Leave the government and serve people,” he remarked, advising the mayor to collect funds if he must, to clean the city. 

On a side note, the CJP also requested citizens of Karachi to put an end to the campaign hailing him, adding that he did not want praise. “I am just fulfilling my duties.”