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Monday, October 7, 2024

Celebrities assemble to support PTI’s Ali Zaidi’s call to clean Karachi

All the stakeholders of Karachi have expressed immense support to Ali Zaidi's call to clean up Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi

News Desk |

Pakistani artists have come out in full support of Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaf’s leader Ali Zaidi’s initiative of cleaning up the metropolitan city of Karachi. Hailing from Karachi, the Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, on Tuesday announced to clear Karachi from the dumps of garbage accumulated in the city, within two weeks.

Ali Zaidi said he took up the initiative on the orders of Prime Minister Imran Khan after unremoved garbage wreaked havoc on the city, following two days of continuous rain. He assured the federal government is fully backing him in his initiative. He added that he had built the momentum of his clean up drive and several private organizations and celebrities are eager to join hands in the campaign.

The minister noted that they would remove garbage from the metropolis’ six districts. The people of Karachi and the federal government, alongside FixIt founder and the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) member of the National Assembly (MNA), Alamgir Khan, would clean the city.

Social Media Reactions

A much-needed initiative to revitalize the beauty and protect the human life in the city, the stakeholders of Karachi, belonging to various walks of lives, gave an enormous welcome to Ali Zaidi’s announcement on social media.

The local government moaned the lack of funds and authority to clean up the city while the provincial government asserted they have provided the necessary funds to Waseem Akhtar, Mayor of Karachi for the task.

People of Karachi had been desperately looking up to the provincial and federal administrations to address the issue.

Lets Clean Karachi‘, a social media trend, heavily trended on Twitter ever since Zaidi’s announcement in which scores of celebrities including Ali Zafar, Strings band, cricketer Wahab Riaz, actor Faysal Qureshi, legendary writer Anwar Maqsood, Shehzad Roy, comedian Ali Gul Pir, journalist Hamid Mir,  and Salman Iqbal participated and reiterated their support for the campaign.

Several political leaders from the opposition party expressed their unity for the cause. Raza Haroon, from PSP, hailed Ali Zaidi’s campaign. Capital TV also came forward with their assertion to support his initiative. The Karachi’s major power supplying company K-Electric also pledged support for the cause. Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry also released a press statement lauding the clean Karachi drive.

Shehzad Roy, in particular, stepped forward and recalled the show he recorded with journalist Hamid Mir on dumping untreated sewage in the sea, which was broadcasted on Geo News. He asserted that this matter should be made part of the initiative.

Read more: Pakistan’s toxic ‘love affair’ with plastic

Hamid Mir also shared his picture discussing cleaning Karachi, a few days before the torrential rain lashed the city. The city’s association of journalists also rallied on the roads of Karachi in favor of the cleanliness movement.

The Persistent Problem of Pollution

Karachi, home to nearly 20 million people, is a multi-ethnic city, and is immensely ignored by the provincial and local governments. Moreover, the scanty development projects accelerating with snail speed adds to the plights of the citizens.

The local government moaned the lack of funds and authority to clean up the city while the provincial government asserted they have provided the necessary funds to Waseem Akhtar, Mayor of Karachi for the task.

The untreated heaps of garbage over the decade are now polluting even the most developed urban areas of the city. Recently, the city confronted severe urban flooding that hampered the lives of citizens. Heaps of solid waste deposited in the drainage pipes obstructed the flow of rainwater causing flood in the city. The rainwater stormed the houses of people in several areas of Karachi. The rainwater mixed with sewerage water gripped areas with the toxic smell.

Read more: Rains hit Sindh: PTI’s Ali Zaidi lambasts PPP governance & Bakhtawar Bhutto

Alamgir Khan, the owner of the social welfare organization, and the legislature of PTI protested against the sitting provincial government of PPP, for their incompetence over the dysfunctional drainage system of the city. The provincial Police arrested him with his workers and jailed him and lodged FIR against him. He was then released after PTI leadership intervened in the matter.