HYDERABAD: A division bench of Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit, comprising Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Adnanul Karim Memon on Thursday again asked Dadu`s sessions judge to comply with the court`s earlier directives regarding submission of reports about a judicial magistrate`s Dadu visit aimed at inspecting the city`s civic issues. It called for commencement of an anti-encroachment drive in the city and sharing its results with the court.

The order was passed on two identical mat-ters regarding civic issues of Dadu city.

The court had on Dec 8 passed an order asking the sessions judge to depute a civil judge & judicial magistrate to undertake a visit along with the officials concerned and prepare a report about the overall civic conditions in the city. Such report was supposed to be filed by the sessions judge on Dec 15.

The bench noted that no such report was filed on the date. It issued a reminder asking the sessions judge to comply with the Dec 8 directives and submit such report on or before the next date of hearing. The bench fixed the matter for Dc 22 at 11am.

At the Friday hearing, Additional Accountant General (AAG) Mohammad IsmailBhuttowaspresent.AdvocateMumtaz Lashari appeared in person to plead one of the two petitions. Various reports were filed by respondent officials, who included secretaries or representatives of local government, planning & development, environment& climate change and public health engineering departments; Sindh Environment Protection Agency (Sepa); and chief municipal officers of Dadu district, Johi taluka, Khairpur Nathan Shah and Mehar.

The petitioners have complained that the city`s main road is hit by hard and soft encroachments. Heaps of garbage are lying on roads while sewage remains standing most of time and people are unable to breathe normally due to stench.

Advocate Lashari in his petition submitted that respondent officials had miserably failed to provide safe drinking water to people whereas sanitation and sewerage systems were either not working or blocked. He stated that all four talukas of Dadu district were facing unhygienic conditions. Sewagemixed water is being supplied to people and effluents are drained out in Dadu Canal which creates a serious threat of outbreaks.

The respondent of ficials concerned under-took that all roads in Dadu would be made motorable and the areas would be cleared of obstructions.

They acknowledged that traf fic jams were seen during school timing, and pledged that this problem would be solved enabling students and their families to move freely and conveniently. It was also undertaken that at those roundabouts and intersections where traf fic usually got jammed, constables would be deployed to regulate traf fic.

AAG Bhutto informed the bench that for raising a wall around the main graveyards -L al Hindi and Pir Mohammad Murad -a requisition had already been sent to the provincial finance department for approval.

When confronted with certain queries, focal person of Dadu deputy commissioner undertook that work for the boundary wall would commence within a week`s time. He said that an anti-encroachment drive would be launched soon.