With a population of 16 million, Karachi is the largest megacity in Pakistan. Despite being a large city that is home to many, it has seen a substantial decline in quality of life and economic competitiveness
Sindh Health Minister Dr Saghir Ahmed has said that the development project being executed at the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) at a cost of Rs90 million is in its final stage of completion. The project envisages upgrading of cardiac unit, gastro investigation unit, gynae I, II and III, surgical units IV and V and plastic surgery unit, besides installation of modern lifts for the urology unit.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said that the existing $800million ADB-funded mega city project will be redesigned and improved with the inclusion of mass transit schemes such as a light rail, costing Rs2.4 billion, to provide a solution to traffic congestion in the city for the next few decades. This was one of the salient features of the budget 2008-09, said the chief minister while addressing the post-budget press conference on the seventh floor of the New Sindh Secretariat on Tuesday.
Alarmed by the recent reports of laboratory-confirmed polio-virus cases in Sindh, some highly designated international experts on polio eradication are rushing to Karachi to review the long prevailing supplementary immunisation activities and find out the loopholes. A source privy to the immunization initiatives in the province said that an emergency meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on Polio Eradication for Pakistan had been convened on June 24 and 25 at Karachi to review progress on "interrupting wild polio transmission'.
A mega water project for Karachi city K-IV, which was planned keeping in view the future need of water in the metropolis, has been approved by the Sindh government and its PC-I is under process while treatment plant for industrial and domestic waste to save the Arabian Sea from pollution would also be installed in the city, besides the work on the installation of 35MW power plant at Dhabeji pumping station by the end of June, The Nation has learnt on Tuesday. Karachi city is receiving 650MGD water currently and K-IV comprising 150MGD water would be the latest addition.
The Karachi Strategic Development Plan (KSDP 2020), better known as the master plan, recommends grant of planning control of the coastal areas to the city government so that uplift works are carried out in conformity with its waterfront development vision. At present, the coastal area land is controlled by several authorities, including the Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Karachi Port Trust, Port Qasim Authority, Defence Housing Authority, Lyari Development Authority, Kannup, Sindh government and city government.
For the uninitiated, it is almost surreal: men and boys, stepping out of their homes into the unpaved and narrow alleys of Nursery Town, in Korangi 2-1/2, as the clock strikes three in the night, armed with rolls of colourful plastic tubing. Dropping the pipes to their fixed post, they retrace to fetch the next batch of equipment
With the death last week of a blackbuck, the species' population at the Karachi Zoological Gardens has been reduced from 28 to a mere three over five years, and there is little hope of any increase since the remaining females have no mates. The female blackbuck was discovered dead about a week ago. It was assumed that she died after colliding with the fence whilst running, since the animal had been healthy and no other reason was apparent, said a source. Zoo officials failed to respond to Dawn's inquiries about the real cause of death.
With no quick fix available to stem the spiralling prices of everyday food items, the worsening situation in which the common citizen finds himself is being cited as the main reason behind the rising cases of suicide in the country.
The federal government decided on Thursday to revive the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project and make it a modern commuter system by 2011. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting which was presided over by Minister for Railways Sardar Mahtab Ahmed Khan. A spokesman for the ministry said that the Karachi Urban Transport Corporation (KUTC) would be the implementing agency for the project to be undertaken with the assistance of the Japanese government, which had agreed to provide a soft loan of $872 million.
The establishment of a local certifying body in organic farming would provide low-cost audit and certification facilities to the existing market players in Pakistan. Shafaqat Ali Syed, Financial Analyst and Investment Advisor (FA & IA), Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF), told Business Recorder on Wednesday that ASF has approved a matching grant support for Bhombal & Company (Pvt) Ltd, Karachi, to acquire foreign accreditation in organic farming certification and GlobalGAP.
