38 major drains cleaned: Ministers

KARACHI: Sindh Ministers Saeed Ghani and Syed Nasir Hussain Shah have said that after the recent rains, the way the media was given the impression that Karachi was submerged, nothing happened but this year the situation was much better than last year.

They said that except for a few low-lying areas, the drainage work was completed within a short period of time, according to a communique here on Wednesday. Drainage cleaning was started from July 3 in collaboration with the World Bank and 38 major drains of the city were cleaned while the rest of the city's DMC drains had also been cleaned.

The Chief Minister of Sindh has also released special funds for this purpose.

A documentary was also presented to the media regarding the work of cleaning the drains started by the Local Government Department. On the occasion, Sindh Minister for Information and Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that after the recent rains, water accumulated in the low lying areas of the city and it caused inconvenience to the people.

"We apologize to the people,' they said. They said, however, some areas including Orangi Town, Liaquatabad, Federal B Area, PECHS and other low lying areas were flooded and Drainage work was also completed there through dewatering pumps. To a question, they said that all the preparations had been completed for Eid-ul-Azha and the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board and all the districts had made preparations for the removal and disposal of the offal.