KARACHI, March 20: Out of 516 villages listed for regularization in 1987 in Karachi district, only 227 villages were found on merit under provision of Sindh Gothabad (Housing Scheme) Act 1987 and were issued the regularization documents.

This information was given in writing at the floor of the House of the Sindh Assembly on Saturday by Revenue Minister Altaf Hussain Unar in response to a question of Humera Alwani.

Likewise, in reply to the question of Haji Abdul Qadir Soomro, the Livestock Minister Manzoor Ali Khan Panhwar informed the House that 4535.13-acre agricultural land was granted for establishment of Red Sindhi Cattle Breeding Farm in the year 1958-59 at Tando Muhammad Khan by the defunct West Pakistan Government.

He said that the land was later transferred to agriculture development corporation in 1962. Just after 10 years, the farm was transferred to animal husbandry department of Sindh. However, he added, the management of the farm was handed over to Sindh Milk Board in 1976. After the failure of the SMB's management, the farm was retransferred to animal husbandry department, which 2483.10 acres and surrendered the remaining 1940.01 acres in 1980.

The aims and objectives of the Red Sindhi Cattle Breeding Farm were:

• To carry out the experiment on various aspects of the breed in its original characters; to act as demonstration station for disseminating the results of experiments to the farmers for improvement of their livestock.

• To maintain the pure breeds and to supply the breeding bulls to the farmers as well as the veterinary hospitals and dispensaries to improve the livestock through natural services.

The minister said that at present a total of 227 cattle were maintained on the farm. Besides, 13 cattle, 25 goats, 100 sheep and eight buffaloes belonging to the Research and Training Institute for Livestock Department were also maintained at the farm, he added.

During the financial year 2002-2003, the minister said that Rs3,002,418 were incurred on salaries of establishment; Rs30,222 on repair and maintenance of durable good; Rs2,880 on communication, Rs85,250 on transportation, Rs39,915 on utilities Rs1,079,684 on other requirements. He stated that a total amount of Rs1,597,287 was granted in the 2002-03 fiscal year for thefarm. Despite shortage of irrigation water, the farm earned Rs1,164,643 during the year 2002-03, he added.

Mr Panhwar said that the farm was non-commercial research establishment and as such the question of profit and loss did not arise. Moreover, he said that the farm's land could not be granted to the landless farmers, he added.

In reply to Mr Nisar Khuhro's question about the population of Landhi Cattle Colony, tax collected and facilities for dairy farming, Mr Panhwar stated that Landhi Cattle Colony was established over 40 years ago (i.e. in the year 1958-59).

He said that at present 250,000 animals were kept in Karachi. The major needs of milk and meat of the metropolis was being fulfilled from Landhi Cattle Colony. However, he added that there were some other cattle colonies also which helped fulfil the milk and meat needs of Karachi.

At present, 15,000 animals were being kept at Nagori Dairy Cooperative Society; 12,000 animals at Baldia Dairy Cooperative Society; 12,000 animals at Al Momin Dairy Cooperative Society; 10,000 animals at Surjani Town. He further said that around 325,000 animals were available in different dairy farms in Karachi.

In the past, he said, the collection of all the taxes and provision of facilities at Landhi Cattle Colony were the responsibility of Metropolitan Corporation Karachi. However, according to the new setup all the taxes were now being collected by the city government, he said. The responsibility of providing the facilities were also lying with the city government, he added.

The minister said that the city government was being approached time and again by his department as well as the Dairy Farmer's Association seeking provision of basic facilities at Landhi Cattle Colony through the tax collected.

In reply to another question of Nisar Khuhro, the livestock minister said, "The cattle colony is still a katchi abadi, as it has not been regularized so far." He said that the city government was charging Rs150 per buffalo per annum as Animal Keeping Tax on milch animals and Rs25 per dairy animal was charged as Fixed Income Tax by the federal government.

Replying to Abdul Rehman Rajput's query, Transport Minister Muhammad Adil Siddiqui said, "It is a fact that the ratio of vehicular traffic in Hyderabad is more than the road(s) and parking capacity, which often results in traffic jams and congestion."