KARACHI: Federal Minister for Power Khurram Dastagir expressed hope in his meeting with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at CM House on Monday that Khairpur Nathan Shah town grid station, which had come under water when floodwaters had ravaged the town, would resume operation by the end of this week.

The chief minister said that K.N. Shah had been inundated completely and so had the grid station following heavy rain and subsequent flood. “Now, water has started draining through natural routes under gravity but the low-lying pockets can only be cleared with the help of pumping machines,” he said.

Shah said that since the grid station had ceased to function in the wake of flood, the pumping stations and machines being used for draining floodwaters from the town stopped working without electricity.

The federal minister told the chief minister that he had come exclusively to resolve the issue. He had held a meeting with the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company authorities and directed them to make the grid station functional within five days, he said.

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“Hopefully, it will resume operation by the end of this week and then we will be able to supply electricity to the pumping stations and machines installed for dewatering the flooded town,” he said.

Shah said that in rural areas winter had already set in. “Stagnation of water was not only causing problems for the residents of the submerged areas but also leading to outbreak of various diseases,” he said, adding he was trying to clear the flooded areas of water by the end of this month.

The meeting was also attended by Sindh Minister for Energy Imtiaz Shaikh.

Plan to buy plastic bags from Argentina

The chief minister also met ambassadors of Argentina and Switzerland at CM House and discussed with them flood situation in the province and matters of mutual interest.

Shah discussed with Argentinean ambassador Leopoldo Francisco Sahores the purchase of plastic bags used for storing wheat and other grains.

The meeting was informed that Argentina had the technology to manufacture special plastic bags used for storing grains. The bags were medicated and they protected the grain from weevils and moisture, it was said.

Mr Shah said that the provincial government procured 1.5 million tonnes of wheat every year and it planned to purchase these bags. He directed his special assistant Syed Qasim Naveed to discuss the matter with Food Minister Mukesh Chawla and then negotiate with Argentina for the bags.

In his meeting with Swiss ambassador Georg Steiner, the chief minister discussed the investment opportunities in different sectors such as water, agriculture and energy in Sindh.

The CM and the ambassador agreed to hold more such meetings through the provincial investment department and the Swiss commercial attaché.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2022