Keamari is now 7th district of Karachi city
KARACHI: The Sindh government has approved creation of the seventh district in Karachi, a decision that the opposition parties have rejected.
The Sindh cabinet approved establishment of the seventh district in Karachi ater bifurcating the existing district West.
The decision evoked a strong political reaction coming in the wake of the expiry of the term of local bodies and is likely to impact the outcome of local government elections, scheduled in the next four months.
The cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah was told that the district West has a huge area and has the highest population of 3,914,757. It comprises seven sub-divisions, Manghopir, SITE, Baldia, Orangi, Mominabad, Harbour and Maripur, seven circles, nine Tapas and 23 Dehs which calls for beter administrative management for the convenience of public.
The cabinet approved the creation of Keamari district comprising four sub-divisions of SITE, Baldia, Harbour and Maripur with a population of 1,833,864. The new district will have three circles, five Tapas and 11 dehs. This new district has some visible pockets of PPP strongholds.
Shah said the districts of Karachi have peculiar names such as South, East, West, Central, etc, which should be renamed like Nazimabad district in place of Central and South could be renamed as Karachi. He also directed the Board of Revenue to suggest new names for the districts.
The chief minister, on the recommendation of some cabinet members, directed the Board of Revenue to prepare a comprehensive proposal for creation of more districts in the province. Those who have more population and vast areas should be bifurcated in two for the convenience of the local population.
He said that Khairpur was another large district of Sindh, which must be bifurcated into two. However the District Khairpur has some constitutional protection against its division, he said and directed the law department to explore ways to create another district in Khairpur city.
The Mutahida Qaumi Movement-pakistan, Pakistan Tehrik-e-insaaf, and Pak Sarzameen Party strongly criticised the Sindh government’s decision of creating the seven district in Karachi.
In a separate development, the Supreme Court ordered the Sindh government to evict all illegal tenants from government-owned residences within two months’ time.