Cleaning of nullahs speeded up to save people from danger, minister told

The cleaning of storm water drains has been speeded up to provide instant relief to the citizens and save them from any dangerous situation, said local government (LG) secretary Roshan Ali Shaikh on Sunday.

He was briefing LG minister Nasir Hussain Shah about the recent development of the nallahs cleaning work. Roshan Shaikh told the LG minister that teams were swiftly carrying out the work without any delay. “Dedicated teams have been deployed for the cleaning of nullahs that are working round the clock in shifts. Officials of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, the District Metropolitan Corporation, and the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board are working together to clear the choking points and sensitive areas.”

He added that the work for the transfer of silt from nullahs was monitored on a regular basis and no official was allowed to leave the site until the completion of the task.

The LG secretary also briefed the minister about the installations of de-watering machines. “On the identification of the DMC and the KMC officials, we have sent special de-watering machines to the designated points. The waterboard and the NDMA officials are working in complete coordination to place the de-watering machines at the identified locations”.

Roshan Shaikh also briefed the minister about the working of rain emergency units. “The district monitoring units are linked with the central rain emergency unit. The officers deputed in the monitoring unit are instructed to maintain a regular check on the current developments.”

He added: “The central unit is also linked up with the Karachi commissioner’s Disaster Management Cell as minute-to-minute sharing of information is taking place between them”. The LG secretary said the people could contact their helpline 1339 in case of any emergency.