SUKKUR:Caretaker Chief Minister Sindh, Justice (R) Maqbool Baqer, presided over a meeting at the Divisional Commissioner’s house in Sukkur on Tuesday, focusing on Sukkur’s development portfolio and flood damages and rehabilitation.
In attendance were provincial ministers, Brigadier Haris Nawaz, Barrister Umar Soomro, Ashar Lal, Principal Secretary Hasan Naqvi, Secretary School Education Sheerin Narejo, Secretary Health Dr. Mansoor, Secretary Works and Services Muhammad Nawaz Sohu, and other relevant officers.
During the meeting, Chief Minister Sindh expressed the purpose of his visit to Sukkur, which was to assess the city’s health, sanitation, flood damage, and other issues. He instructed the Secretary of Works and Services to clear the roads of the city of soil, emphasizing the need for improved sanitation arrangements in Sukkur.
He gave a three-week deadline to the Sukkur district administration to remove garbage and floodwater from the roads, warning that he would not spare anyone if the city remained unclean.
The Chief Minister also pointed out the poor conditions of police stations and the district headquarters hospital in Sukkur, criticizing the lack of honesty in the performance of their duties. He emphasized the proper cleaning of broken roads, sewers, and streets.
The Divisional Commissioner Sukkur, Samiuddin Siddiqui, and his team briefed the caretaker Chief Minister on flood-related rehabilitation projects. The Sukkur division comprises 18 talukas, 288 Union Councils, covering 27,158 kilometers of land, and includes Khairpur, Ghotki, and Sukkur districts. According to the recent census, the Sukkur division has 1,052,475 houses and a population of 6,010,041, with a household ratio of 5.7 and an overall development rate of 1.36.
In the briefing, the Chief Minister was informed about the presence of 5,239 primary, 171 middle, 248 elementary, 210 secondary, and 85 higher secondary schools across the division. The region experienced significant rainfall and flooding in 2022, with a total of 775 mm of rain recorded in Sukkur during that year.
The briefing also highlighted the impact of the 2022 floods, which affected 891,238 people in the Sukkur division, damaged 442,922 houses, destroyed 59,305.20 acres of agricultural land, and led to the loss of 120,820 cattle.
New development schemes have been planned for the Sukkur division in the financial year 2023-24, with an approved budget of 680 million rupees, of which 340 million has been allocated for 51 schemes in Sukkur. However, no funds have been released yet for these schemes. Development schemes for Khairpur are in preparation, with an allocation of 560 million rupees.
The Chief Minister was also informed about preparations for a project in Ghotki, for which 380 million rupees have been allocated. Ongoing development schemes for the financial year 2023-24 in Sukkur division are progressing, with a focus on the rehabilitation of roads and PHE schemes for drinking water.
A budget of 6271 million rupees will be spent on 388 road rehabilitation schemes in Sukkur, and work on PHE schemes for drinking water will be completed this year. Additionally, 193.493 million rupees have been allocated for 191 water supply schemes, 142.83 million rupees for 262 drainage schemes, and 83.328 million rupees for 199 water filtration plant schemes in Sukkur.
The Divisional Commissioner Sukkur informed the Chief Minister that 799.479 million rupees have been earmarked for three schemes for Sukkur Barrage, and 499.478 million rupees have been released for this purpose. It was also mentioned that school buildings used as polling stations during general elections have been severely damaged, and an estimated 1,483.585 million rupees are needed for their repair. Contact has been made with the Secretary GA, S&GAD for the provision of funds.