Gear up for the downpours!

Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA) Director General Ghulam Muhammad Qaimkani has directed the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), a subsidiary of HDA, to make its final preparations for the oncoming monsoon rains
Chairing a meeting attended by officials of HDA and WASA at the HDA Office here on Thursday, the DG asked WASA to establish a rain emergency center, complete de-silting of small and big drains, cover all open manholes and cancel any leave given to the staff.
He asked the Managing Director of WASA, Saleemuddin Arain, to set up control rooms in each taluka of the district and to visit all the drainage-pumping stations in the district.
WASA was directed to ensure arrangements of power generators at the pumping stations to be used during power outages.
The DG also asked all executive engineers and assistant engineers to provide their contact numbers to the public so that they may be contacted in order to address any problem connected with water supply or drainage.
The MD of WASA assured the DG that all of his directives will be implemented within 24-hours.
Furthermore, Metropolitan Commissioner of Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) Matanat Ali Khan has said that cleaning work of all rain drains would be completed by July 10.
Khan said that the cleaning work of 13 important storm water drains in the metropolis would be completed ahead of the monsoon season.
He said that efforts were being made to clear all rain drains, which had chocked sewerage lines and appealed the people to avoid dumping garbage in the sewarage. The Metropolitan Commissioner also directed the concerned officials of KMC, to use all resources and machinery to complete the work effectively.