Karachi: Lack of basic utilities of water, electricity and gas is badly hampering the housing sector in Karachi as thousands of new housing societies and settlements are uninhabited due to this reason, said Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor on Sunday.Altaf Shakoor said billions of rupees of citizens are invested in new housing societies that are nonfunctional due to the lack of basic facilities. He said hundreds of thousands of houses and flats are fully constructed in these new housing societies and settlements but people could not live in them because they have no water, electricity and gas connections. He said these new settlements mostly situated at suburban areas of the megacity like Gadap, Hawksbay, Northern Bypass, Superhighway and Surjani need urgent attention of the government as they desperately need water, electricity, gas and public transport.He said Scheme 42 Hawksbay is the classic example of neglect and poor governance of the Sindh government, as its Lyari Development Au thority (LDA) has failed to develop this large scheme despite the passage of almost two decades. He said the LDA is deeply marred with corruption and the poor allottees of the Scheme 42 are victims of its neglect and ineffectiveness. He demanded that the higher officials of LDA should be sacked and some honest and capable officers posted to replace them. He said people have invested their lifetime earnings in the Scheme 42 and they should be doled out.Altaf Shakoor said if the new housing societies and schemes are provided with water, gas and electricity connections, hundreds of thousands of families would be facilitated and it would greatly boost the economy of the megacity. He said it would also help in reducing congestion in the mid areas of Karachi and give the megacity a better look. He said new bus routes should be announced for these suburbs of Karachi to facilitate commuters.He said that the government claims that it has surplus electricity but new meters are not given to citizens; it claims that it has additional water from the Hub Dam but the water tanker Mafia is ruling the megacity. He asked why this surplus electricity and water is not being given to the citizens. He said this shows nothing but bad governance. He said the government of Punjab is ably serving it's citizens but the government of Sindh is running a poor show due to its corruption and lack of professionalism.Altaf Shakoor demanded from the KE, Water Board, Sui Gas officials and the government of Sindh to immediately supply connections of electricity, water and gas to the new settlements. It asked the LDA to start development work in the lingering Scheme 42 and make it livable as soon as possible. He said the economy of the megacity could be easily doubled if the new housing schemes and settlements of Karachi are provided with the basic utilities.