Baqar unhappy with performance of traffic cops, PDMA in rain

Sindh caretaker chief minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar has decided to issue letters conveying his displeasure to the chiefs of the traffic police and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) for failing to respond in time and causing the public to suffer losses during the rain in Karachi on Saturday.

Baqar took the decision during a meeting he chaired on Sunday to review rain emergency measures in the city. He put all the civic agencies and local bodies, the PDMA, the traffic police and the Karachi Water & Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) on high alert to properly deal with situations arising from cloudbursts and heavy rains, directing them to take the necessary measures to clear all major and minor arteries.

Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab told the meeting that it was a cloudburst that inundated the main arteries. He said that he and KWSC CEO Syed Salahuddin visited various storm water drains that were partially choked with plastic shopping bags.

He also said that some drains had not been operational at the required capacity on Sharea Faisal, particularly in the Nursery, Drigh Road, old city and II Chundrigar Road areas, so not only were they cleared but the KWSC’s machinery was also installed to pump out stagnant water from the low-lying areas.

The interim CM took serious notice of the absence of the traffic police chief when all vehicular traffic was blocked on almost all the main arteries of the city. He said that the traffic police had failed to manage traffic in time, so the city’s residents suffered a lot.

He directed Sindh police chief IGP Riffat Mukhtar to issue a letter to the traffic DIG and convey to him his displeasure. “I am not happy with traffic management in the city, particularly on Saturday evening.”

Wahab told the meeting that all the main arteries are now clear, and traffic is plying smoothly, but dewatering is in progress in some areas, while the drainage system is being improved by clearing the gutters and conduits.

It was also observed during the meeting that the PDMA had failed to respond in time. They sent pumping and other machines very late, so water could not be drained from the low-lying areas in time.

Baqar said the PDMA director general should have been present on the roads to help the local bodies. He directed his secretariat to issue a letter of displeasure to the DG, and he ordered the PDMA chief to ensure the provision of functional machinery to the local bodies.

It was also observed that most town chairmen had failed to serve their areas during the rain. The caretaker CM said that it was unacceptable, adding that all the elected local body chairmen and councillors must serve the people of their respective areas in close coordination with other civic agencies. He directed the mayor to coordinate with all the town chairmen so that the civic issues of the city can be resolved, particularly in such emergencies as Saturday’s heavy rain.

The meeting was told that Ferozabad DSP Shabir Sarki was actively working on Tariq Road and was helping people during the heavy rain. Baqar directed the IGP to issue him an appreciation letter.

Control room

The interim CM earlier visited the control room established at the commissioner’s office, where Karachi Commissioner Saleem Rajput briefed Baqar about the rain emergency measures and the preparation for the February 8 general elections.

After visiting the commissioner’s office, the caretaker CM went to the Central Police Office, where he visited the command & control room. IGP Mukhtar showed him through CCTV cameras’ live coverage the different areas where water had accumulated or where it was cleared, and where the KWSC’s, the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board’s or the Karachi Metropolitan’s staff and machinery were working.