KARACHI: Acting President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Altaf A. Ghaffar has fervently appealed Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah and Mayor Karachi Murtaza Wahab to take concrete steps on war footing basis for immediately improving the dilapidated road infrastructure of Karachi which has become of cause of mental torture for all the Karachiites due to frequent traffic jams every day at almost all the roads of Karachi.
Referring to wide number of complaints being received at KCCI, Acting President said that delays in restoration of road network which were terribly damaged particularly during this year’s Monsoon rainfalls has triggered a lot of anxiety not only amongst members of business community but also the general public who find themselves being mentally tortured every day on the street of Karachi where the situation has worsened to such an extent that most of the roads have become neither commutable not walkable because of damaged roads and overflowing sewerage lines.
“If you take a walk in the district south particularly Jodia Bazaar, Mauripur, Kaemari, Bolton Market, Lee Market, Tower, Lyari, MA Jinnah Roads, Arambagh and other nearby localities, all of them and many other localities including industrial and residential areas across the city look war-ravaged”, he said, cautioning that sheer negligence towards providing livable conditions to public was triggering a lot of hatred amongst the public who find themselves being terribly punished despite paying the highest number of taxes yet staying deprived of basic necessities. “Is this what Karachi deserves against all its contribution to the national and provincial economies in terms of revenue”, he asked
He further said that it was a matter of grave concerns that the largest city of Pakistan which contributes more than 65 percent revenue to the national exchequer and 95 percent to provincial kitty remains largely deprived and the only thing this city timely received was just lip-service. “Commuting on the streets of Karachi has become a matter of life & death nowadays as after staying stuck-up for hours, the frustrated commuters usually start violating traffic rules including the violation of one-way rule that often results in life-threatening accidents in addition to further worsening the traffic jam situation”, he said, urging that patch work at roads has to be initiated immediately to resolve the serious issue of frequent traffic jams.
He was of the opinion that a sense of deprivation and hatred was triggering amongst the general public when they look at the elite-class areas of the city where the situation was not so bad and all the basic facilities were available as compared to rest of the city where the situation was extremely pathetic. This serious issue has to be tackled immediately so that equality across the society could be promoted otherwise the growing sense of deprivation would create more problems and may even lead of creating serious law and order situation.
He once again appealed Chief Minister and Mayor Karachi to pay some attention the miseries and hardship being suffered by Karachi so that relief could be provided to perturbed Karachiites who were become mental patients due to extremely miserable road conditions. “Karachi is also part of Pakistan which plays the lead role in the economic development of entire country; hence, it must receive special attention from both the federal and provincial governments”, he added.