The Sindh government on Tuesday declared rain emergency in this densely-populated metropolis to avoid an untoward situation during the ongoing rainy monsoon season.
The declaration came from Minister for Local Government Owais Muzaffar, said an official statement.
The Met Office Tuesday forecast cloudy weather for the metropolis with chances of thunderstorm/rain in the next 24 hours.
The metropolis remained in a grip of fog which reduced visibility significantly during the day.
The Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC), the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) and other departments concerned have been put on high alert to cope with any untoward incident in the city which is already plagued with the menace of political and religiously motivated targeted killings.
In a related development, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad held a high level meeting at the Governor House to direct Sindh Chief Secretary Mohammad Ejaz Chaudhry to fully activate the local government departments as well as that of the provincial irrigation department to effectively deal with a rain-related emergency situation.
The chief secretary, later in the day, convened an urgent meeting at Sindh Secretariat to review the government’s flood preparedness measures and cleanliness of rainwater drains.
Tuesday saw the city receiving a fresh spell of the monsoon rains. The drizzle started in the morning and kept falling till afternoon.
An official statement said the declaration of emergency was aimed at ensuring a timely drainage of the stagnant rainwater from the city streets.
A poor drainage system has long been haunting the city’s cleanliness with small pools of stagnant rainwater proving to be productive nurseries for mosquitoes. Chronic diseases like dengue and malaria were believed to be caused by the post-rain flooded city streets.
Sensing the gravity of the situation, the provincial minister has also directed the KMC administrator, KWSB MD, KMC municipal commissioner and the municipal services director to personally monitor the rain-related situation.
Also, the local government minister issued directives for the utilisation of all available machinery and equipment for ensuring the achievement of desired results.
He warned that if stagnant rainwater was found anywhere on the streets of the metropolis, the officials concerned would be taken to task.
Owais also directed the KWSB MD to establish his camp office in Civic Centre for better cooperation with the KMC.
He warned that he would personally visit various city areas, so as to inspect draining of rain water.
Chief Secretary Ejaz Chaudhry subsequently chaired another meeting in his office at Sindh Secretariat. The meeting reviewed the measures taken by the provincial and city administration to pre-empt any untoward situation during the ongoing monsoon season.
