The provincial cabinet of Sindh in its meeting held under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday at CM House decided to release wheat from October 15, 2021 at the rate of Rs 1,950 per 40 kg so that atta prices could be stabilized.
The meeting was attended by all the provincial ministers, advisors to CM and special assistants, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah and Chairman P&D Hassan Naqvi and other concerned ministers.
Briefing the cabinet, Minister for Food Mukesh Kumar Chawla said that over 1.2 MMT of wheat stocks were available in the godowns of the provincial food department.
He said that currently, the Punjab government had started releasing wheat at the rate of Rs1,950 per 40 kg. At this, the chief minister said that with the fixation of uniform rate in the country, the prices of flour would be stabilized.
Therefore, the cabinet approved the proposal of releasing wheat from October 16 at Rs1950 per 40 kg.
Rehabilitation of nullahs affectees: Minister Local Government Department Nasir Hussain Shah briefing the cabinet on rehabilitation of Gujjar, Orangi and Mehmoodabad Nullahs said that Karachi witnessed unprecedented rainfall during monsoon 2020 which caused massive urban flooding.
He added that the significant cause of urban flooding was choking of stormwater drains due to the vast extent of human settlements on major nullahs.
Nasir Shah said that the Supreme Court took cognizance of the condition of stormwater drains and directed the NDMA to take over the cleaning of nullahs and remove the encroachments [in and around these nullahs] with the support of the Sindh government.
The court also directed that the Sindh government would provide all necessary assistance and support the NDMA for rehabilitation of the people dislocated on account of removal of the encroachments.
Subsequently, a Provincial Coordination and Implementation Committee (PCIC), headed by Chief Minister Sindh, was constituted on 15th September 2020.Since the formation, the Coordination Committee and Provincial Coordination and Implementation Committee have held five and eight meetings, respectively.
For clearance of major Nullahs of Mehmoodabad, Gujjar and Orangi, the work of hydraulic and hydrological survey was assigned to NED University. The survey gave identification numbers to each encroached house that is constructed in the right of way of the Nullahs.
In the 4th meeting held on December 28, 2020 the PCIC finalized its recommendations which, inter alia, included overview for Karachi Transformation Projects (KPT), detailed financial outlay, way forward for restoration of stormwater drains and schedule of releases of funds were decided which were also approved/ratified by the Coordination Committee on 02nd January, 2021.
Rental support of Rs15,000 per month, per household for two years, on six monthly basis to be disbursed through biometric verification by the office of the Administrator KMC.
In the meanwhile, more than 344 houses on Gujar Nullah and 60 on Orangi Nullah, including six factories in SITE area were given Stay Order by Anti-Encroachment Tribunal and High Court of Sindh.
The Supreme Court vacated all interim stay / injunction and status quo orders on 14th June, 2021 and directed the Sindh government, NDMA and Administrator KMC to ensure that all lands of both the Nullahs and right of way were cleared and the occupants of the land were suitably compensated and rehabilitated.
Falconry Ground: The Sindh cabinet allotted a non-cultivated belt of Tehsil Jati, District Sujawal for Falconry season 2021-22 to an applicant of Qatar.
Remissions: The cabinet granted education remission to nine convicted namely Sajid Iqbal, Zafar Iqbal, Syed Bilal, Mohammad Shahid, Abdul Rasheed, Qurban Ali, Pir Bux and Ali Akbar for different periods.