THE bid to have a municipality for Nazimabad that began in mid-September was gaining momentum. In fact, more localities had started to think along the same lines. After all, Karachi was expanding exponentially.

On Oct 6, 1969 the Federal Area Union Committee Number 24 at a meeting demanded that the government set up a municipal committee for Federal Area, Liaquatabad, Nazimabad and Golimar. The demand was made through a resolution passed at the meeting held under the chairmanship of Obaidur Rehman. It read: `This meeting of the Federal Area Union Committee resolves the interests of the people that the government should establish a separate municipal committee for Federal Area, Liaquatabad, Nazimabad and Golimar areas immediately. Several separate municipal committees have already been established in recent past.

There is no reason that the establishment of a municipal committee for these areas should be delayed any further.

Interestingly, at the time, a SocietiesMunicipal Committee had been formed.

On Oct 11, it was reported that the Societies Municipal Committee was directed by the local government notto levy and collect taxes or take over the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) areas till further orders. The order was issued after the KMCexpressed its reservations about the committee. A study group comprising S.

M. Sohail, Zain Noorani and Hatim Alvi was constituted by the government to look into the feasibility of coming up with such a body for the [cooperative] societies and its usefulness.

The KMC, mind you, was no small administrative unit. It could both work for the Sind capital`s upkeep and fund institutions and organisations. On Oct 11, the corporation sanctioned Rs200,000 as grant-in-aid for the University of Karachi. A press release said the KMC with the approval of the commissioner of Karachi had sanctioned the amount. It had already donated to the university a sum of Rs700,000 in the previous few years.

Although the weather conditions that week were not worrisome for Karachiites, health concerns weren`t always to do with the climate. From Oct 10 to Oct 11, the Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and Civil Hospital received 17 gastroenteritis patients from various localities. Eleven of them were said to have suffered extensive vomiting and motion after consuming stale food kept overnight under unhygienic conditions.Six others who belonged to one family fell ill after eating sweets bought from a vendor in Juna Market.

Not that the authorities took the subject of health as something that didn`t need special attention. They kept devising plans, on a regular basis, to inform the public on how to keep themselves disease-free. For example, on Oct 8 a mass drive against the adverse effects of smoking on health was launched in the city jointly by the National Health Education Committee and the Cancer Society. Thousands of pamphlets were distributed to caution the citizens against the risks involved in smoking.

As far as the Sindh capital`s cultural life was concerned, on Oct 11, a 30-member visiting Ankara radio and televisions music ensemble presented a number of highly enjoyable items of vocal and instrumental music at the Adamjee College. Consisting of 21 singers 11 of them women the Turkish group rendered folk and classic pieces with great charm. The songs were notable for their lyrical beauty. The ensemble toured Pakistan under the RCD cultural exchange programme.