KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that in order to meet rain emergency, he had released Rs463 million for cleaning of storm-water drains and other related work.

In a statement issued here from the CM House on Wednesday, the chief minister said that on July 17, 2020 an amount of Rs200 million was released as a special grant-in-aid for critical emergency actions to mitigate monsoon risks under Solid Waste Emergency and Efficiency Programme (SWEEP) throughout Karachi and placed at the disposal of the secretary of Local Government.

Shah said that another Rs229 million had been released on July 2, 2020 for cleaning of watercourses and monsoon preparation in different districts of the province.

He said that out of Rs229 million, Rs30 million had been released to the commissioner of Karachi for removal of garbage and debris, Rs70 million to the commissioner of Hyderabad, Rs20 million to the commissioner of Larkana, Rs31 million to the commissioner of Mirpurkhas, Rs38 million to the commissioner of Shaheed Benazirabad, Rs40 million to the commissioner of Sukkur and Rs4 million for cleanliness/de-silting of Sadi Town/ Mehran drain. Murad Ali Shah said that another Rs90 million was being given to the commissioner of Karachi for rain emergency. The chief minister said that the impression being given by some "responsible" persons that funds had not been released was totally wrong and unfounded.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020