The Clifton Cantonment Board (CBC) is playing a significant role in the construction and development of Karachi. The area is home to about half a million people and CBC has been at the forefront of public service.
The appointment of Deputy CEO Dr Muhammad Rizwan has led to some new changes which he revealed during an exclusive interview with MM News.
MM News: What are the responsibilities of Cantonment Board Clifton?
Dr Muhammad Rizwan: CBC is responsible for all development work the area including building roads and green belts. Our responsibilities include maintaining sidewalks, street lights and other equipment, including traffic signals.
We are also responsible for sanitation and drainage, gardens horticulture and water supply. We have some slum areas including Punjab Colony and Delhi Colony where we are also performing our duties.
MM News: What preparation has CBC for the monsoon season?
Dr Mohammad Rizwan: Regarding the preparations, let us say that last season had severe heavy rains. The CBC is responsible for drainage from all areas covered by it. The CBC performed well during the last monsoon, but urban flooding occurs globally due to climate change and global warming. There were heavy downpours even in a short span of few hours and our system wasn’t ready. Even in developed countries, including the United States and Japan, urban flooding creates problems.
We have taken a variety of measures for rainfall this season. We made a lot of preparations for the next season .We cleaned sewerage lines with mechanical machines which is still ongoing and will continue till the monsoon season. Cleaning storm drains has become very expensive. Pumping stations have been developed so they remain operational during rains.
The second step is that the power outage was a huge problem last season. Now we are ready to use heavy generators. The third step is that we have increased the capacity of the pumping stations. About 10 to 75 horsepower pumps have been taken which can process or extract 2,500 gallons of water per minute.
There are 210 other pumps of different capacities. We have divided the whole area into six sectors to reduce our reaction time. The number of the sector in-charge is available to the public through social media so that people can lodge complaints directly. We have deployed emergency teams in these areas so that we will not have to move the pumps and can solve the problem easily.
MM News: Have you developed a system to use rainwater or not?
Dr Muhammad Rizwan: This is a densely populated area where we do not have the capacity to store rainwater. This work is being done on an experimental basis in other parts of Pakistan to store water but not on a large scale anywhere.
The biggest challenge for CBC is groundwater. The level is high and we do not have any mechanism such as an underground tank to store water. However, this work can be done on an experimental basis at some level.
MM News: What are the largest rainwater drains managed by CBC?
Muhammad Rizwan: We have two types of drainage management. Some of the drains are managed in the sea view and some are separate. In the end, the water goes to the sea. The Mahmoodabad drain, for example, runs in the middle of the city.
MM News: Where did you get the idea to beautify parks?
Dr Muhammad Rizwan: It is the duty of municipal bodies to beautify their areas. The CBC also took this step. We are working for beautifying the whole area and have arranged good space for parks. The main slogan of the board is ‘Clean and Green CBC’. We have also planted trees that flowers and want to beautify the whole area.
MM News: What do you have to say about speed breakers and garbage on the roads?
Dr Muhammad Rizwan: We have created an awareness campaign for the people. We can only ask shopkeepers, businessmen and restaurant owners to help clean up the garbage as soon as possible. Garbage should be thrown in the bin. People throw rubbish on the streets because it is a little cheaper. This is also done in haste. This makes the problems worse.
MM News: What project has CBC planned in future?
Dr Mohammad Rizwan: We are renovating 32 parks and other arrangements are very well managed. We are building a sports ground where the people can easily play sports activities. We will introduce other projects in the next financial year.
MM News: What message would you send to residents and shopkeepers in your area?
Dr Muhammad Rizwan: We have set up a control room in CBC and have shared the number on social media. We ask the public to inform us of their problems in a timely manner. We will solve public problems. Wherever there is a problem, we are ready 24 hours a day. Our own monitoring and relief activities continue, but public participation will make it easier for us.
