KARACHI: The MMA’s sole legislator in the Sindh Assembly on Tuesday voiced against the prolonged electricity load shedding in Lyari, saying that the abject outages have created a water shortage for the residents.

Syed Abdul Rasheed, who is the only lawmaker of the multi-religio-politico parties’ alliance, MMA, cried foul over the power cuts for long hours in Lyari, saying that the load shedding did not reduce even in the chilly weather.

Resultantly, he pointed out, the lasting power cuts sweeps away a possibility for the residents to fill water for them through electric motors. Thus, he said, water unavailability for household use is making people suffer.

Rasheed asked the Sindh government to take an immediate notice of the power cuts in Lyari, saying that the electricity outages have also helped spur street crimes. Another issue, he raised, was about gas non-supply to the residents of his constituency.

He said that the gas pipelines meant for supplies to Lyari are lying rundown, which spew water instead.

Sindh Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mukesh Kumar Chawla assured the lawmaker of solving the issues. “Our effort will be to solve the issues on a priority basis even will try this week,” he said.

Earlier, Sindh Mines and Minerals Development Minister Mir Shabbir Bijarani claimed that the province is endowed with 26 billion tons of granite underground resources.

Replying to a question, he told the house that Tharparkar region of Sindh is full of minerals with the high-quality of granite resources. However, he said, there is a ban on the mining in the areas because of the reservations by the local people.

The mining ban restricts exploitations in areas where ancient heritages are found like the birth place of a Mughal king with other preserved remains and Hindu temples, he said, adding that the public wants a protection to such sites.

Some areas like wildlife natural fields and forests are also exempt from exploitations, he said that “people don’t want to see any harm to their ancient heritages; therefore, the government has banned mining in respect to their views”.

In Sindh, the minister said, there is a huge area available for mining, adding that those parts with no forests can be explored easily.

At present, Shabbir Bijarani informed the legislature that the mining is at a halt because of the public protests. To another question, he said, the granite resources are available on 437 acres of land.

The Sindh government has already placed a ban on a wildlife hunt in Tharparkar region, saying that the move is helping grow the population of animals like dears.

The house also referred a private bill called” The Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) (Amendment) Bill, 2019,” to a concerned committed for further deliberations.

Rabia Azfar Nizami, a female legislator of the PTI, had tabled the bill on a private members’ day of the assembly.

The house will also hold a discussion in its next sitting on a resolution tabled by PPP’s Sharmila Sahibah Faruqui regarding education system in Sindh.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022