Sindh Minister for Information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said on Saturday that the matter of Sindh Inspector General of Police Dr Syed Kaleem Imam has been made controversial without any reason.

In his talk to the media, Shah explained that the matter would soon be settled, but complained that the Centre has been adopting discriminatory attitude towards the provincial government.

“IG is a senior officer, he needs to take a break and go on a long leave. In Punjab or KP, an IG can be changed immediately,” he said.

Responding to the Supreme Court Friday’s orders, during hearing a case on illegal constructions and encroachments in Karachi, to the Sindh government to demolish all illegally-constructed buildings in Karachi’s Punjab Colony, Delhi Colony, PNT Colony and Gizri Road areas, Nasir Hussain Shah said that the apex court’s directives would be implemented in letter and spirit.

“Many people are involved in illegal constructions and encroachments […] a desk has been established at the SBCA to address complaints about illegal constructions and old settlements have been regularised,” he said.

“Builder mafia occupied much of villages’ land while the Sindh government regularised many of the old settlements. The uninhabited buildings will be demolished first, however the process will take some time as Karachi is a big city,” he added.

Shah said the Sindh government wanted to carry out development work at Nehr-i-Khayyam and make changes to Submarine Chowrangi underpass but some people had approached courts and obtained stay orders against the projects.

But he said following the orders by the CJP, the stay orders given by lower courts will stand "null and void", which will support the provincial government.

Noting that a large number of people are involved in illegal constructions, the minister said a vigilance committee of the government had removed 900 illegal structures in the city. He, however, acknowledged that because Karachi is such a large city, authorised construction still continues in many areas.

"Actions were taken against people involved in such [constructions] in the past and will be taken in the future as well," he said.

Responding to a question about the CJP's direction to restore the past glory of Karachi, Shah said while he could not comment on the top judge's remark. "Clearly, if you go many years back, the population of this city was much less and there is a big difference between the conditions of that time and the present."

He expressed the hope that the CJP will also take action against "illegal immigrants" and other people from abroad living illegally in the country.–Sabah