Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said that the provincial government has released Rs 476 million for desilting of all the 30 nullahs of the city but emergent cleaning work started on four nullahs should not be stopped during the Eid holidays. “There must be red alert in local bodies to pump out rainwater during the on-going pre-monsoon season.”
The chief minister was presiding over a meeting regarding rain emergency in the city on Wednesday. Minister Local Government (LG) Jam Khan Shoro, Chief Secretary Siddique Memon, SMBR Rizwan Memon, Commissioner Aijaz Khan, Secretary Local Government Baqaullah Unar, Secretary PDMA Saeed Awan, Administrator Karachi Laiq Ahmed, DG PDMA Syed Salman Shah and officers of concerned departments attended the meeting.
Minister LG Jam Khan Shoro said that he, along with the administrator KMC, DMC administrators, commissioner and deputy commissioners, was on the roads. There were some choking points at Shahrah-e-Faisal, University Road, in central district where rainwater could not flow smoothly.
He said desilting work on four nullahs including Orangi, Gujjar, Chokar and Kalri had been started. “Work on other 26 nullahs would be started just after Eid and this desilting work would continue till next six months to clean them completely,” he said. The chief minister directed the minister local government to work out a detailed plan to remove encroachment on and along the nullahs.
Jam Khan Shoro said when the rain started on Tuesday evening, the KE feeders tripped so suddenly that the motors and other electrical installations at pumping station at Dhanbeji and Pipri were damaged badly. Pumping station at Pipri had been restored but work at Dhabeji pumping station was still in progress, he added.
The CM said that there were reports that water had accumulated in some low-lying areas. “The DMCs have been given enough funds to hire generators to pump out rainwater,” he said, and added that every DMC was provided Rs 10 million for cleaning nullahs of their area and other expenditures and directed the local government minister to personally inspect their work.”
Qaim Ali also took serious notice of prolonged power failure in the city causing serious problems for the citizens. “I had held a meeting with KE authorities and they had informed to have upgraded their transmission and distribution system. If their system was upgraded, then how this prolonged power failure occurred during a first shower in the city,” he questioned, and directed the secretary energy to talk to KE and urge them to keep their system maintained.
The LG minister told the chief minister that after the permission of ministry of water power about 25 MGD water had been pumped out of Hub Dam and the same water was being provided to District West and other areas.
