By Aziz Khatri
KARACHI: Mayor of Karachi, Barrister Murtaza Wahab, inaugurated the sixth annual Marigold Flower Show at Bagh-e-Jinnah, Frere Hall, on Thursday, saying the city administration was taking practical steps to make Karachi greener and more beautiful.
Speaking to journalists, Wahab said more than 100,000 flowers and plants were on display at the three-day exhibition, including around 112,000 marigolds grown at the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s nursery. He said parks across the city were being upgraded with modern facilities and described public awareness about the importance of plants and trees as the main goal of the show.
The mayor invited citizens to visit the exhibition with their families. He said work on urban forests and tree plantation projects was progressing rapidly and expressed the desire to hold similar flower exhibitions in all seven districts of Karachi.
Stressing the importance of planting neem, banyan, gulmohar, chikoo, almond, guava, and seasonal flowers, he urged school administrations to educate children about plantation and support the KMC parks department in caring for plants.
The mayor added that trees planted today would significantly improve the environment within 10 to 12 years, and the KMC would provide full support to civil society and schools. He noted that the historic Frere Hall building was constructed in 1865 and that many trees in its surroundings were over 50 years old.
Wahab described climate change and global warming as major environmental challenges and congratulated the parks and horticulture department on organizing the event, saying collective efforts could make Karachi more attractive.
Responding to a question about the recent Gul Plaza incident, the mayor expressed grief over the tragedy and said political point-scoring only harmed the city. He said such incidents should be seen as tragedies regardless of the city involved and stressed that political conflict would not solve Karachi’s problems. He added that action would be taken wherever negligence was found.
He also called for concrete measures on fire safety, saying prejudice and press conferences alone served no purpose. Wahab said traders and industrialists paid billions in taxes, but no meaningful response had been seen from the federal government after the incident. He said the prime minister should have visited Karachi to address the losses, adding that tragedies should not be used for politics and that fact-based dialogue and practical action were needed.
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