Nawaz to visit Karachi today

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will be in Karachi on a whirlwind visit of the metropolis today (Monday) to assess the situation where the people are dying of scorching heat and suffocation while the provincial administration and K-Electric are blaming each other for failure in providing adequate protection to the poor citizens.
The prime minister, who is seriously concerned about the large number of deaths in Karachi and other parts of the country on account of the heatwave, will chair a meeting of officials dealing with the production and distribution of electricity in Karachi and adjoining areas. He will seek an explanation from the people responsible for the situation.
Highly-placed sources told The News that Prime Minister Nawaz would leave for Karachi early in the morning. Some federal ministers will also accompany him on the trip.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had dispatched two separate teams to Karachi for fact-finding. Federal Minister for Safron General (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch with State Minister Saira Afzal Tarar were part of a team while the other team was headed by the Water and Power Secretary Yunus Dhaga and the Nepra chairman as its member.
Both the teams have concluded their work. General Baloch has made an overall assessment and federal secretary for water and power examined the K-Electric’s working. Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad and Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah will also attend the meeting at the Governor House.
Corp Commander Karachi Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar and DG Rangers Major General Bilal Akbar will also have a meeting with the prime minister to give their assessment of the situation and brief him on the ongoing operation against terrorists and criminals in Karachi.
Some political leaders of the province, including PPP Chairman Bilawal Zardari, will also call on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the Governor House. Meeting of the prime minister with any MQM leader has not been confirmed since it is not on the agenda, the sources said.
Meanwhile, sources revealed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wanted to visit certain less developed localities of the city to inquire about the circumstances that led to the deaths but security officials requested him not to insist on his plan. But he would visit some hospitals to meet the patients admitted there, the sources said.