Detractors’ eyes fail to see hard work of govt: CM

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said Karachi received 200 millimetres of rainfall, which is something devastating, and he, his cabinet members and the entire government machinery worked day and night and successfully drained rainwater out of major areas of the city, but “I am sorry to say some detractors continuously kept criticising the government and civic agencies just to take away the credit of our services”.

The government did not need the credit of some “self-praising, detractors and pseudo-intellectuals”, but it was our duty and we did our best to control the situation and mitigated public sufferings, he said while talking to media after offering the Eid-ul-Azha prayers at Jamia Masjid Mohammad Yousif Merchant at the Commissioner House on Monday morning.

He was accompanied by Minister for Local Government Syed Nasir Shah, his adviser Murtaza Wahab, special assistant Rashid Rabbani, the Karachi commissioner and others. He said that 200 mm of rainfall was not a joke and had inundated the flat, upper areas. He added that what had happened in low-lying areas he personally witnessed and he got the rainwater drained by standing deep into two feet of water.

“I along with my cabinet members have been working in the rain-affected districts of Karachi and Hyderabad division for the last three days,” he said. Shah repeated his earlier stance that Karachi had lost its natural storm water drains. “Being located in the lap of the Kirthar range, the city not only receives the rain which downpours within its extent, but it also receives hill torrents which used to drain out into the sea through natural nadi and nalas in the past,” he said and added that “now those rivers and drains have turned into residential societies and colonies”.

The chief minister remarked that to criticise the government was very easy but to find out solutions and to work in the field was quite difficult. “We can take a bulldozer to bulldoze all the societies, apartments, residential towers and bungalows to restore old waterways, but it would cause a major displacement and dislocation of hundreds of thousands of people/residents and destroy their investments; therefore, we are exploring other ways and means to construct a new nala or ring-storm water drain to cater to the requirement of the entire city,” he said and added a hydraulic survey of the city would be conducted and then a scheme of a nullah would be made.

Shah said he had visited major parts of the city where water had accumulated and he installed truck-mounted suction machines and got them cleared for the convenience of the people. “I have tried my best to clear the areas where Eid Namaz congregations are held, but the extent to which these congregations were held on the last Eid could not be held this time.”

The chief minister said that the heavy rains had lashed the coastal belt; therefore, he visited cities and towns of both the divisions of Karachi and Hyderabad and met people, witnessed their plight, carried out relief work and assured them that they would not be left alone.

Terrorism in IoK

The chief minister said the Indian government had unleashed terrorism exercises in the held Kashmiri by killing innocent people, including children, women and elderly people. “The international forces are watching the situation and I am sure the champions of human rights would wake up from their slumber and support and liberate the people of Kashmir from the clutches of India,” he said.

He said 14th August would be celebrated with simplicity just to express solidarity with the oppressed people of Kashmir. “We have announced to observe a black day on August 15, the Independence Day of India, to express our string rejection of their constitutional amendment under which Kashmir has been annexed into India in violation of the instrument of Indian Independence,” he said.

Saeed Ghani’s claim

Sindh Minister for Information & Archives and Labour Saeed Ghani has said that as a result of the adoption of all the necessary precautionary measures beforehand the people of Karachi did not suffer much during the recent spell of heavy rains in the metropolis.

He said this while talking to journalists during a visit to various parts of the port city along with Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah during the rain spell. Ghani said that prior to the expected heavy rains all the members of the Sindh cabinet made sure by mobilising every available resource with the Karachi Municipal Corporation and other local government institutions that the rain did not cause havoc for the people of Karachi and Hyderabad. Their determination and untiring efforts paid off, he added.

The minister said that in a few of the low-lying areas of the city the people suffered due to the accumulation of water, but soon after the rain, the water from these areas had also been drained out. He said that on the instructions of the CM, all the elected members of the Pakistan Peoples Party as well as the staff of the municipal corporations remained in a state of high alert, worked hard all day and all night and provided timely relief to the people of Karachi and Hyderabad during rains.

Ghani said the role of the Pakistan Army, Sindh Rangers, Sindh police and traffic police was also commendable. He said that all the staff of the Karachi Municipal Corporation, the District Municipal Corporation, the Solid Waste Management Board along with the deputy commissioners and the Karachi commissioner remained present on the road during rains and ensured the instant drainage of the rainwater.

Later, addressing a press conference, Ghani told the journalists that by utilising hundreds of water pumps the rainwater had been drained out from almost all the affected areas of the metropolis.

He said said that after receiving prior information about the forecast of heavy rains in the metropolis all the pertinent components of the district municipality had been activated. If all this had not been done earlier the situation could have been much serious and unpleasant, he added.

He said Karachi scarcely experienced heavy showers of this magnitude during the monsoon season; that was why the administration faced a bit difficulty while tackling the situation but everyone of us was determined to keep the situation in control and we did so successfully. Ghani said that because of the overflowing the Malir and Lyari drains the Korangi and EBM causeways had been temporarily closed but now both of these causeways had been opened for traffic.

He said that it was extremely regrettable that even after so many deaths in Karachi no action has yet been initiated by the federal government against the K-Electric.

Aside from the K-Electric, nothing had been done so far against the administration of the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company and the Sukkur Electric Supply Company, he added. Ghani said that even the delayed tweet of the prime minister didn’t utter a single word against the administration of the K-Electric. He said that NEPRA should immediately charge-sheet the K-Electric for its inefficiency and incompetency. He said that the provincial government was being criticized for no logical reasons. Criticism for the sake of criticism would be of no use, he added.