Devastating Karachi rains: PM assures Sindh govt of full cooperation; Bilawal hopes centre will play a constitutional role

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Friday directed the Sindh government to provide speedy relief to the citizens in the rain-hit province.

Bilawal called Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who was out monitoring the situation and overseeing relief work, and asked him to conduct a province-wide survey to assess the damages and losses to both the public and private properties for intensifying relief work and starting the rehabilitation process.

Bilawal said the entire province had suffered and growers had incurred heavy losses, as their standing crops were washed away by the torrential rains. He also asked the Sindh chief minister to seek help from the federal government to cope up with the situation and expressed the hope that the federal government would play its constitutional role in bringing the province’s economy back to normalcy.

Meanwhile, Bilawal said all efforts should be made to pump out rainwater from Larkana city and restoration of normalcy in the city besides organising a well-coordinated relief operation for the affected people.

Speaking to his Political Secretary Jameel Soomro, who is busy coordinating rescue and relief operations in the PPP chairman’s constituency, which includes Larkana, he said the worst monsoon rains had inflicted severe losses on the entire Sindh, including his constituency.

Bilawal asked Jameel Soomro to personally look after the relief operation and take all possible steps to mitigate the suffering of citizens. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday said that the Karachi situation after the recent rains was discussed with the Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and he was assured of all possible help from the federation and its agencies.

Imran emphasized that Karachi was the most important city of Pakistan and all resources would be mobilized to deal with the current emergency situation. To this effect, the prime minister chaired a meeting on Karachi to review progress of various development projects by the federal government.

Federal ministers Asad Umar, Murad Saeed and senior officials attended the meeting. Sindh Governor Imran Ismail joined from Karachi through the video link.

The meeting was briefed on the progress made so far on the federal government's development projects in Sindh and Karachi.

The prime minister said the people of Sindh, especially of Karachi, were fully aware of the development needs and problems faced by them and the federal government will play its role in this regard.

Governor Sindh briefed the prime minister on the latest situation in Karachi. The prime minister said a comprehensive plan for disposal of sewage and provision of clean drinking water in Karachi was being formulated in consultation with all stakeholders. He said all the federal agencies had been instructed to provide relief to the people of Karachi.

Meanwhile, the prime minister chaired a meeting of the National Coordination Committee on Covid-19. Federal Ministers Asad Umar, Shafqat Mehmood, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Muhammad Hammad Azhar, Syed Fakhar Imam, Advisors Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Abdul Razak Dawood, Special Assistants Dr Sania Nishtar, Dr Faisal Sultan, Lt Gen (R) Asim Saleem Bajwa, Dr. Moeed Yousaf, Chairman NDMA and other senior officers participated.

AJK Prime Minister and provincial chief ministers attended the meeting through the video link. The meeting discussed measures to effectively curb the spread of coronavirus during Muharram, revival of educational activities in schools, implementation of testing, tracking and quarantine strategy, testing strategies in various fields, especially tourism, micro-smart lockdown.

A detailed briefing was given on the strategy in light of the current situation in the aviation sector. Minister for Planning Asad Umar briefed the meeting in detail about the overall coronavirus situation.

The meeting was informed that the strategy adopted by Pakistan against the pandemic was being appreciated at the international level. With the blessings of Allah Almighty and the government's strategy, there was a clear improvement in the situation in Pakistan with respect to the corona compared to the outside world, especially the neighboring countries.

The meeting was informed that effective measures had significantly reduced the corona positivity. The meeting was briefed on the Muharram strategy and implementation of SOPs. A detailed discussion was also held on the roadmap for revival of educational activities in schools, safety arrangements in schools and SOPs in view of improved conditions.

Addressing the meeting, the prime minister congratulated the NCOC, medical personnel, law enforcement agencies, provincial governments and all other stakeholders on the improved condition and said effective coordination and comprehensive strategy was in place.

The Prime minister thanked the scholars, Zakirs and religious leaders for their cooperation and said the cooperation shown by the religious leaders in the fight against corona was commendable.

Talking to the Sindh chief minister on the Karachi situation, the prime minister said the federal government would extend all possible cooperation to the provincial government to resolve the problems faced by the people in Karachi and its aftermath.

In this regard, instructions have been issued to all federal agencies to cooperate fully with the provincial government in relief activities. The Prime Minister said a long-term plan was being formulated to solve the problems of Karachi. He will personally visit Karachi in next few days to assess the situation.

Talking about resumption of educational activities in schools, the prime minister directed that all arrangements in this regard should be finalized in consultation with the provincial governments, school administrations and other stakeholders for resumption of educational activities in schools on September 15.

A final decision on the matter could be taken at the September 7 meeting. The meeting decided to review the health protocols regarding domestic air travel keeping in view the better situation of the coronavirus.