Caretakers failed to plan for rains: Shahbaz

LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), president and former chief minister Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif held the caretakers responsible for the critical situation caused by heavy rains in the city, saying the interim government had not made the required arrangements to deal with the catastrophe.

Talking to the media on Tuesday during a visit to his constituency NA-132, he said people could not be fooled by the photo sessions of those who chose to take a trip round the city 16 hours after the precarious situation arose.

Shahbaz said the caretaker government had ample time to prepare for the approaching rainy season, but evidently, they were ignorant and apparently too busy with something else besides their main job.

He said during his tenure as the chief minister, he used to personally ensure that all drains were cleared before the start of July to avoid any untoward situation.

However, the caretaker government was caught sleeping and it was the people who had to suffer, he charged.Without naming Imran Khan, Shahbaz Sharif, said some people very cleverly waited for the rain, then came out on the road just for the photo session. The people of Lahore and Pakistan could not be fooled by such meaningless gestures of individuals who have nothing to show to people as their performance, he added.

The ex-CM recounted the development works and projects completed by his government in the fields of electricity generation, education, health and infrastructure. He said those achievements were not made by sitting at home and issuing statements on the mainstream and social media but were earned through hard work. He said the people of Lahore and Pakistan would reject the obstructionist politics of Imran Khan, which has halted development and economic progress of the country in his blind pursuit for power and premiership. Earlier, Shahbaz was greeted by a large number of PML-N supporters during his visit to the constituency.