Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah on Wednesday led a sit-in against the federal government and power distribution company K-Electric over load shedding in the province.
The sit-in was staged outside the Sindh Assembly where provincial ministers and leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party were also present.
The chief minister said that Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif should either provide uninterrupted electricity to Sindh or resign from his ministerial position.
Shah demanded that the federal water and power minister should compensate the families of those who died in Karachi heat wave.
He said that there should be no load shedding in Sindh during the month or Ramzan as promised by the federal government.
Meanwhile, opposition parties in the Sindh Assembly submitted a resolution, condemning the Sindh government and Karachi Electric (KE) for their failure in discharging responsibilities.
The resolution was signed by MPAs of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Functional (PML-F) groups and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
At least 830 people have perished in Sindh since Saturday as the province languishes in the grips of a searing heatwave. On Sunday, at least 136 deaths were reported, while on Monday 309 were reported dead. On Tuesday, 311 were reported dead in Karachi while 26 died in other parts of Sindh. Temperatures in Karachi are expected to peak at 36 degrees Celsius on Wednesday as a relatively cool sea breeze started blowing on Tuesday evening.
The resolution read that the government of Sindh has failed to save the lives of its own people.
“Not only they (the government) failed to ensure provision of water and electricity through K-Electric, but they have also failed in carrying out all proper measures and relief efforts, which have resulted in the loss of more than 800 precious lives,” it said.
The resolution also criticised the health and local government departments of the Sindh government.
The opposition members hailed the role of Sindh Rangers for establishing heat stroke centres across the province.
It urged the Sindh government to come out and provide proper facilities to masses.
