SHC moved to order compensation for people affected by rains in Karachi

A petition was filed with the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday, seeking a judicial inquiry into the losses incurred by citizens during the monsoon rains, and compensation to the affected persons for their rain-related losses in Karachi.

Petitioner Nadeem A Sheikh submitted that the disastrous rain spells had brought life in Karachi to a standstill and the city was still flooded, costing Pakistan approximately Rs449 millions every day.

He submitted that Karachi became a 'disaster zone' after two days of rain and of the total 41 persons killed during the rain, at least nine people were electrocuted due to faulty power infrastructure in one of the heaviest downpours in decades that had made the lives miserable of more than 20 million people in the megacity.

He submitted that the Sindh government had also announced a monsoon flood emergency and declared many areas in the province calamity-hit.

The petitioner submitted that the monsoon rains did not mean devastation but the unplanned growth of the city had reduced it to ruins and large-scale encroachment was the primary reason behind the flooding during rains.

He submitted that the natural drains and rivers had been encroached, which had disturbed settlements and led to flooding during rain. During the disastrous rain, various emergency telephone numbers such as emergency fire number 16, commissioner’s helpline 1299 as well as Civil Defence phone numbers were found to be off and no any other emergency numbers were available in case of emergency, he added.

The petitioner submitted that after using the KE complaint number, only a recording could be heard which said that the skilled staff of KE were trying to rehabilitate the area as soon as possible.

He submitted that roads leading to the cardiovascular hospital, Jinnah hospital and Kidney Centre were submerged with more than four-foot water and in this condition it was impossible to bring patients to the hospitals. He added that the lack of any bulk drainage mechanism along the major streets was an obvious cause of the problem and it was ironic that the prime corridors like II Chundrigar Road, Sharea Faisal, Shaheed-e-Millat Road, Karsaz Road, Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan Road, Shahrah-e-Pakistan and many other arteries had all become pools of water.

He submitted that it was necessary that the high court passed appropriate orders to the relevant authorities and departments, including all the respondents, to initiate a strict inquiry into the matter and produce their report before the court in the stipulated time, so that the court could pass appropriate orders.

He submitted that the Sindh government was liable to compensate the people affected by the rain and requested the SHC to direct the Sindh and local governments to compensate them.