CM Sindh orders monitoring of rain-affected areas of city by elected representatives

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday decided to monitor the city of Karachi through 28 dub-divisional committees comprising elected representatives, including ministers, advisors and special assistants for timely and properly disposal of the rain water.

“I need a solid mechanism for saving low lying areas where rainwater has flooded the houses,” this he said while presiding over a meeting to review monsoon situation and cleanliness of storm water drains, said a spokesperson to the CM Sindh.

The meeting was attended by Sindh ministers Saeed Ghani and Syed Nasir Shah, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, ACS Home Usman Chachar, Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shahalwani, Secretary Finance Hassan Naqvi, MD Sindh Solid Waste Management Kashif Gulzar, PD SWEEP Zubair Channa, MD Water Board Khalid Shaikh, Masood Alam of KMC and others. The chief minister said that the local bodies should have an emergency plan to deal with the heavy rain situation in the city.

“The irrigation department maintains a mile-wise protection plan of embankments of their canals under which they mark vulnerable and weak points and take prompt action in case of riverine floods,” he said and added “the local bodies should have a similar plan under which low-lying areas, choking points, bottlenecks, culverts of nullahs and their catchment areas should have been identified on a map so that deployment of concerned staff and necessary machinery could be installed in case of heavy downpour.

Syed Murad Ali Shah said that only cleaning of nullahs was not enough but a detailed plan must be prepared through a proper and professional survey.

“Our natural water ways have either been encroached or turned into housing societies, therefore rain water could not flow away in gravity,” he said.

Syed Murad Ali Shah directed the Minister Local Government to remove encroachments from the storm water drains and continue their cleaning under World Bank projects and with local funding of the government.

Minister Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah told the chief minister that from July 26 when the rain had started he along with the water board, local government, DMCs senior officers had been on the roads.

“The rain water where accumulated was pumped out through machinery and clearance of choking points that is why all the major roads have been cleared,” he said. The chief minister said that in low lying areas rain water flooded various houses.

“I want a plan under which these houses could be protected,” he said and added that the small nalas crossing from such residential localities must be maintained properly.

Syed Murad Ali Shah decided to look after the city of Karachi on sub-division level where elected representatives would be assigned the duty to ensure proper discharge of the accumulated rain water.

It may be noted that there are 28 sub-divisions in Karachi division and every sub-division is headed by abn assistant commissioner.

The local government minister, on the directives of the chief minister, chaired a joint meeting of water board, DMCs, KMC and SSWMA officers to identify choking points on the main roads, residential and commercial areas for necessary action so that further action could be taken accordingly.