It’s raining, it’s pouring, the CDGK is snoring

Though the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) claimed it has drained rainwater from the low-lying areas of the metropolitan, the actual condition of the city gave the opposite picture as the traffic jams were witnessed due to accumulation of water on all the thoroughfares after heavy rain on Tuesday.
The sky had been overcast since morning with sporadic drizzling; however, dark clouds covered the city by afternoon and the downpour started. The vehicles on the roads had to turn on their headlights in some parts of the metropolis. Due to the heavy rainfall, the MA Jinnah Road and II Chundrigar Road witnessed the worst traffic jams.
People had to face a number of difficulties while returning home from their offices. The intense rain also affected the flight schedules at the Jinnah Terminal for a while as many flights were delayed. Heavy rain inundated roads and water flowed into many houses in various low-lying areas of the metropolitan.
After the downpour, the citizens brought their vehicles on the roads in a haphazard manner, resulting in the worst traffic jams.
Motorists and motorcyclists were stranded on the roads during the rain as impatient citizens were rushing to reach their destination as soon as possible, causing a lot of problems at the city’s centres.
The absence of traffic police, City Wardens and malfunctioning of traffic signals after the cloudburst also put the motorists and motorcyclists in a fix, and they were stranded in their vehicles for hours.
Another reason for the traffic jams was stated to be the absence of the sanitation staff who was supposed to drain the accumulated rainwater.
The traffic on the Shahrah-e-Faisal and II Chundrigar Road is controlled by traffic signals, and as the water started accumulating at various spots, a number of vehicles broke down and caused traffic jams at certain points.
Interestingly, soon after the rains, the traffic police, usually seen issuing chalan tickets to violators of traffic rules, could not be seen alleviating the gridlocks.
Besides the MA Jinnah Road, II Chundrigar Road and Shahrah-e-Faisal, the worst traffic jams were witnessed on the Aga Khan III Road, Zaibunnisa Street, Burns Road, Garden Road, Soldier Bazaar, Purani Numaish, Guru Mandir, Business Recorder Road, Shahrah-e-Iraq, Abdullah Haroon Road, Fawara Chowk, Shaheen Complex, Metropole Roundabout, SM Taufique Road in Liaquatabad, Nawab Siddique Ali Khan Road in Nazimabad, Nishtar Road and other arteries and their link roads.
Furthermore, poor visibility during rains also added to the miseries of the people as movement of public and private transport was extremely slow.
As traffic signals went out of order, the drivers tried to cross the roads hurriedly, resulting in severe traffic jams.
Moreover, the rainwater accumulated on various roads and streets created a lot of problems for citizens, besides the sewage-mixed rainwater that was flowing in front of the historical Empress Market building in Saddar.
Interestingly, the city’s administration claimed to have drained rainwater from the low-lying areas with the help of heavy machinery and pumps after heavy rain hit the city.
Karachi District Coordination Officer (DCO) Muhammad Hussain Syed had directed the staff of the Municipal Services Department (MSD) and others to immediately start dewatering all such places where accumulation of rainwater had been indicated.
He also instructed the MSD executive district officer to personally supervise the works. Meanwhile, city government officials claimed that they took part in the operation to drain rainwater with the help of over 150 vehicles and a staff of over 3,500.
The DCO had instructed all the departments concerned to be on alert and continue monitoring the situation of drains in all low-lying areas.
He said that large pumps were installed on various locations across the city to pump out all the rainwater immediately.
The situation in the city is completely under control and no complaints regarding problems due to rains have been received, he added.
The metropolitan received moderate to heavy showers in different areas, including Airport, New Karachi, Model Colony, Saddar, Landhi, Gulshan-e-Hadeed and North Nazimabad.
According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD)’s observatory at the Jinnah Terminal, the heaviest rainfall of 70mm was recorded at the meteorological observatory of the Old Airport.
The PMD office also recorded 60mm at the Model Colony observatory, 32mm at PAF Faisal Base, 30mm in Gulshan-e-Hadeed, 30mm at the Jinnah Terminal observatory, 22.5mm in Saddar, 18.2mm in Nazimabad, 16mm in Landhi and 3.2mm in New Karachi.