KARACHI: Prime Minis­ter Nawaz Sharif expressed on Wednesday profound grief over the loss of 1,256 lives in Karachi and other parts of Sindh because of sunstroke and directed the national and provincial disaster management authorities to get themselves prepared for the changing climate pattern and work out a comprehensive strategy to avert such deaths.

The prime minister was scheduled to visit hospitals where heatstroke patients are admitted to assess the situation, but could not make it. After presiding over a high-level meeting at the Chief Minister House, he went straight to the airport and left for Lahore.

At the meeting, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Chief Secretary Siddique Memon briefed Mr Sharif on the situation arising out of the deaths caused by the gruelling heatwave and on mega projects of K-IV, S-III and Green Line Metro to be completed with the financial assistance of the federal government.

The prime minister said: “It will be a futile exercise to pass the buck to others; we have to trace out weaknesses and failure of the government machinery and planning and what was the reason that it could not be pre-empted,” he said.

Chief Minister Shah said it was an unexpected calamity, adding that the Met office had forecast heavy rains and, therefore, the provincial government started working out a contingency plan, but all of a sudden the heatwave hit Karachi. He said when the heatwave struck the city he was in Larkana in connection with the birth anniversary of Benazir Bhutto and rushed to Karachi and visited JPMC, Civil and Qatar hospitals where all necessary facilities such as medicines, water, etc, were made available to patients.

Chief Secretary Memon said that 65,533 patients had been brought to government hospitals in Karachi and 731 in the rest of Sindh. Quoting figures, he said 1,256 people had lost their lives and at present 57 patients were under treatment.

He blamed harsh weather, high humidity of about 60 per cent, low air velocity and dry winds as well as prolonged electricity loadshedding for the deaths. District central, Korangi and west were the most affected areas.

The prime minister said: “The lesson we have learnt from this tragedy is to pre-empt the situation. Our national and provincial disaster management authorities have to play an active role. We must extend all possible support to social welfare organisations such as Edhi, Chhipa and others. The Met office has to be more efficient,” he said.

MEGA PROJECTS: The prime minister asked the chief minister to complete the K-IV water project within two years and said the federal government would provide Rs10 billion and the rest should be arranged by the Sindh government.

When Mr Sharif said the Rs25.55bn cost of the project was very high because it was estimated at Rs9bn in 2007, the chief minister assured him that he would personally look into the matter and suggested formation of a joint committee to monitor the project.

The prime minister informed the meeting that he had released Rs8bn for the Green Line Metro.

The federal government will bear the entire cost of the project.

The head of the project, Taha Farooqui, said the total cost of the project was estimated at Rs16.085bn and its topographical survey, inception report, preliminary alignment, soil investigation and EIA had been completed.

Prime Minister Sharif also held a meeting with the heads of social welfare organisations at the CM House and lauded their selfless service for humanity.

Ramzan Chhipa of Chhipa Foundation, Faisal Edhi of Edhi Foundation, Abdul Bari of Indus Hospital, Shakeel Dehlvi of Alamgir Welfare Trust and a representative of Sailani Welfare Trust attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2015

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