KARACHI, Aug 27: The city government, pressing into service all its resources, on Tuesday drained out the water that had accumulated on roads after Monday’s rain.
A visit to various areas and localities showed that almost all thoroughfares, including Shahrah-i-Quaideen, Sharea Faisal, M. A. Jinnah Road and Shahrah-i-Liaquat, were clear of water usually found on roads after such rain spells.
The health departments of all the Towns had deployed their workforce to give the roads and streets in their respective areas a cleaner appearance. Workers in some areas were seen even on Monday night pumping out water accumulated on roads.
However, some residents expressed their apprehension that the manhole covers removed to drain out water might pose danger for children.
ROAD SINKS: A major portion of Khokhrapar Road on Tuesday sunk in the wake of Monday’s rain, causing hardships to motorists and pedestrians.
Residents of the locality said the road (from Khokhrapar No 1 to Dakkhana) was repaired recently following a sewerage line was laid.
In another incident, tyres of two buses of Route 44-A were stuck in the deep potholes which had been developed on Khokhrapar’s Begum Khurshid Road in the aftermath of Monday’s rains.
EMERGENCY PLAN: The city government has expressed satisfaction over the smooth working of the rain emergency plan 2002, under which all the concerned departments were assigned jobs to be done in case of heavy rains, adds PPI.
The chief coordinator of the emergency plan, DCO Karachi Shafiqur Rehman Paracha, visited various parts of the city and expressed satisfaction over the fact that keeping in view the record of rains in the city, no major incident related to loss of life or property occurred this time.
According to him, the new plan may not be a perfect piece and there are numerous flaws in the system when it comes to implementation and coordination among different departments.
Similarly, the TMOs (town municipal officers), who are the focal persons of the emergency plan in their respective towns, ensured that no tree got uprooted and fell on electric cables, buildings or on roads.
The main emergency control room established by the city government is located at the old 134 premises in the Civic Centre. Its telephone numbers are: 9230060, 9230061 and 9230068, whereas the works and services department has set up three emergency centres on Nishtar Road, at Guru Mandir and the Civic Centre.
The control room noted about 15 complaints on Monday, followed by ten on Tuesday, which were pertaining to departments of the city government, the KESC and the KBCA, where a maximum number of callers complained about open manholes and choked gutters.
The fire brigade department has placed all of its equipment and manpower at a high alert and three of its 15 suction pumps have been given at the disposal of the works and services department, which used them to clear water pools in various areas.