KARACHI: The CDGK approved Tuesday plans to hold various Independence Day celebrations to mark Pakistan’s 60-year anniversary. These include cultural and sports events, which were meant to begin last week but have been postponed till August 10.
The CDGK’s Community Development Department (CDD) held a meeting July 25 with officials from different sections of the CDD to finalize the programmes, said CDD sources. A summary of events was sent for approval on July 27, but was only approved yesterday. “The various sports and cultural events were to be held from August 1 to 14, but EDO CDD Rehana Saif said that this was not possible, without providing any specific reason,” sources added.
The CDD’s various programmes included holding tournaments in basketball, swimming, roller-skating, boxing, karate, malakhra, as well as handicraft and painting exhibitions, a family festival, a one-day cricket match and a talent show for disabled children. The first match of the basketball tournament was meant to begin yesterday at the City Sports Complex, Kashmir Road, but could not take place because the programmes had not received overall approval. Similarly, the swimming competition was meant to take place yesterday, and the roller-skating competition today.
District Officer of Sports Tahir Jamil Durrani confirmed that the CDD had approved the plan and now all events will begin August 10 at the Sports City Complex, Peoples’ Sports Complex in Lyari, Al-Markaz-e-Islami in F.B. Area, the Women’s Sports Complex in Gulshan-e-Iqbal and the Quaid’s Mausoleum. Ignoring the printed schedules given by his department to visitors keen to participate, he denied that the programmes were meant to start yesterday. The boxing tournament will now be held August 10 at the City Sports Complex, and the karate championship and football match will be held August 11. “A two-day handicraft mela to display crafts, including various hand-made items by women, is to be held at Al-Markaz-e-Islami in F.B. Area. Dozens of individuals and NGOs have confirmed their participation,” he added.
A mushaira has also been planned in collaboration with the Pakistan Radio in which renowned poets from different cities will participate on August 11 at the PCB auditorium. On the same day, a social welfare and zoo wing of the CDD will hold a special children’s show at the Karachi Zoo, while a family festival, sponsored by a private firm, will be held at Safari Park.
Durrani said that the city government has also organized a nighttime cricket match for August 13 at the National Stadium, and hoped that it will attract a large number of cricket fans since a number of TV and film personalities will also participate. The two-day handicraft mela will also be held at the Women Sports Complex between Aug 17 and 19, while a street-children show is planned for August 13 at Mazar-e-Quaid and a national song competition for August 14 at Aladin Park.
The city government’s Fire Brigade Department will also perform the various skills needed for a rescue operation on August 14 on M.A. Jinnah Road under the auspices of the Hamara Karachi Foundation. “During the department’s drills, the two latest models of snorkels, radio control vehicles, fire brigade ambulances and a tender used in 1912 will be included,” said City Naib Nazim Nasreen Jalil. In this regard, she chaired a meeting in which the CDGK’s Civil Defense and Fire Brigade Committee Chairman Ahsan Siddiqui, DO Fire Brigade Ahsan Mirza, Chief Fire Officer Saleem Ihtisham and others participated. She also asked that all fire stations in the city be lit up.
Source : http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C08%5C08%5Cstory_8-8-2007_pg12_4
