KARACHI: The Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday told the Sindh Assembly about his government’s safety preparations to cope with the cyclonic storm “Biparjoy”, fearing the dangers of a cloudburst in Karachi. He urged the public to avoid leaving home unnecessary since a cloudburst threat looms large over the megacity.
“If houses are damaged in the storm, the Sindh government will help the affectees,” he announced and ordered the authorities to take down immediately high-rise billboards from Karachi and other cities in the province.
“We pray to Allah, the Almighty, to scale down the cyclonic storm’s intensity,” he said and took the house, which his party dominates amid the PTI’s absence, into a confidence regarding the safety measures ahead of the storm.
Sindh CM issues cyclone alert for coastal cities, towns
The storm is barrelling towards Pakistan’s coasts, he informed the house, citing the Met Office reports about the downpours and stormy winds. He said to have paid detailed visits to different coastal areas of Sindh including Karachi on Monday and Tuesday, separately. About 38,000 people have already been relocated from the storm threatening areas to safer localities, he said. He hoped the number of evacuees may exceed over 50,000 by night.
“Some have shifted to their relatives while the rest will be sheltered in camps,” he said and warned that some 60mm of rainfall is expected in Karachi with a heavy spells on Thursday and Friday.
He said that his government has also requested to the prime minister to assign PDMA for helping a rescue and relief work in Sindh. He urged the public to take a caution and avoid untoward weather challenges. Earlier, the assembly opened its post-budget debate on the government’s financial plan 2023-24 with opposition legislators showing concerns over poor law and order despite billions of rupees’ allocations.
MQM’s Waseemuddin Qureshi said that the city is instable with a poor law and order, despite the CM’s emphasis in his speech on stability. Nadeem Siddiqui of the MQM complained that Hyderabad stands ignored in the fiscal budget development despite paying Rs60 billion of taxes.
Shahana Ashar of the MQM appreciated the Sindh Health Department for its better performances, but sought others sectors to come up with development and public facilities. She worried over Karachi’s poor infrastructure. he demanded for completion of K-IV water project and improvement of law and order situation.
MQM’s Adeel Shahzad asked the treasury to implement budget schemes with a full release of funds. PPP’s Sharmila Faruqui said that her party does not believe in the health card facility, as the public is being provided with a free medical facility in Sindh. The PPP government is giving employments to thousands of jobless people, she claimed.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.