KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said he has released Rs476 million for desilting of all the 30 nullahs passing through the city but the cleaning work that started on four major storm drains must not be stopped even during the Eid holidays.

“The local bodies must have been put on red alert to pump out rainwater during the ongoing pre-monsoon season,” he said.

The chief minister was presiding over a meeting held to review rain emergency measures in the city. Sindh Minister for Local Government Jam Khan Shoro, Chief Secretary Siddique Memon, Commissioner Karachi Aijaz Khan, Secretary Local Government Baqaullah Unar, PDMA Director General Syed Salman Shah, Provincial Disaster Management Authority Secretary Saeed Awan and Karachi Administrator Laiq Ahmed, among others, attended the meeting.

25mgd water from Hub Dam being supplied to Karachi West district

Mr Shoro said he along with the administrators of the KMC and DMCs, commissioner and deputy commissioners were on roads to inspect the ground situation. He said there were some points on Sharea Faisal, University Road, and in Karachi Central district where rainwater didn’t drain easily.

He said work on desilting of Orangi, Gujjar, Chokar and Kalri nullahs had already been started. However, work on the other 26 nullahs would be started just after Eid and this de-silting work would continue for the next six months, he said.

Mr Shoro said when the rain started on Tuesday evening many KE feeders tripped, damaging motors and other electrical installations at the pumping stations at Dhabeji and Pipri. The pumping station at Pipri was fixed, but work at the Dhabeji pumping station was under way, he added.

The chief minister said: “The DMCs have been given enough funds to hire generators to pump out rain water.” He said Rs10 million was provided to each DMC for cleaning of nullah in their areas. He directed the minister to personally monitor their work.

He said there were reports about flash floods as water accumulated had on roads and in some low-lying areas of the city. He also noticed that prolonged power failure in the city caused serious problems. “I had held a meeting with KE authorities and they had informed me that they had upgraded their transmission and distribution system. If their system had been upgraded, then how this prolong power failure occurred during the first pre-monsoon shower in the city,” he questioned and directed the energy secretary to talk to the KE and urge them to keep their system maintained.

The local government minister told the chief minister that after the getting permission from the ministry of water and power, about 25 million gallon daily water was pumped out of Hub Dam and supplied to Karachi West district and other areas.

The chief minister also directed the local government minister to work out a detailed plan to remove encroachment on and along all the nullahs.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2016