Islamabad, Sep 20: Chief Secretary Sindh Syed Asif Haider Shah stated on September 20 that the Hyderabad Division is presently moving on with 232 highway projects in addition to many other initiatives.
He emphasized that the division has 25,610 active schemes in total, of which 15,722 are for road development. Chief Secretary Shah underlined the importance of making effective use of the PKR 950 billion development budget during a meeting held at Shahbaz Hall. He called for increased interdepartmental cooperation and communication to better budget management, voicing worry over project completion delays and insufficient cash allocations.
The Secretaries of Finance, School Education, Planning and Development, Works and Services, and Additional Chief Secretary Syed Khalid Haider Shah were among the important officials in attendance at the meeting and additional senior officers.
Shah reported that a little cost dispute of PKR 2500 caused the delayed progress of a number of projects, including a 2015 pumping station in Hyderabad, to be suspended. He emphasized the significance of both prudent financial management of Maintenance and Repair (M&R) budgets and clean drinking water.
He urged officials to treat their jobs seriously and concentrate on completing projects on schedule, guaranteeing that people have access to safe drinking water, and turning on inactive reverse osmosis (RO) plants.
Syed Najam Shah, the chairman of planning and development, gave guests the reassurance that finances are available but stressed the importance of making timely expenditures. He suggested reviewing or terminating dormant projects and putting out bids for any outstanding work right now.
Divisional Commissioner Bilal Ahmed Memon announced the formation of a new group whose goal is to increase departmental cooperation and communication in order to achieve better development outcomes. He did, however, highlight certain important issues, notably the lack of a thorough master plan for Hyderabad, despite ongoing efforts in this direction.
The infrastructure has been significantly impacted by the recent urban flooding and population increase, notably in regions like Juhi and Khairpur Nathan Shah, which has led to disruptions in educational activities because of the deteriorating school structures.
The memo explained that in addition to developing highways, the division is working on 97 construction and educational initiatives. 88 schemes for Hyderabad, 43 for Badin, 4 for Sajawal, 3 for Matiari, 4 for Tando Al-Hiyar, and other specific allocations for other regions 72 projects still need to be revised, 10 are running behind schedule, and 12 have stopped because of financial difficulties.
Ninety-nine public health programs are also facing budgetary difficulties.Noting that only finishing work remains at the Tando Muhammad Khan Public School, the Secretary of School Education stressed the budget allocation for public schools in Ghotki, Sanghar, Matiari, Tando Muhammad Khan, and Tando Allahyar. The urgent need for a NICVD unit in Dadu was brought up by Deputy Commissioner Dadu, who also talked about the equipment needed to finish Cadet College Kakar and the District Headquarters Hospital.
