The fresh spell of rain partially disturbed the city life on Thursday, scaling up the civic problems for the citizens as the Met Office forecast indicates more heavy falls in the next 24 hours. Met office said the prevailing spell of rain in Sindh is very likely to intensify in next 24 hours, producing moderate to heavy rains in the province, particularly in Karachi, Thatta, Jamshoro, Dadu, Kambar Shahdad Kot, Nausheroferoz, Badin, Sanghar and Larkana districts till Friday evening.
It said due to heavy rainfall in the range of 50-70 millimeter during the period, the situation of urban flooding in Karachi may further be aggravated on Friday, with water logging in low lying areas of the city. Civic agencies have been put on a high alert to cope with the challenges of expected rains.
Mayor Karachi Wasim Akhtar has directed all concerned KMC departments to be on "high alert" in view of the forecast for rains in the city. The municipal services, health and medical, parks and fire brigade department have been directed to keep themselves fully prepared with all machinery and equipment to deal with any emergency situation.
The leaves of the concerned staff have been cancelled during the high alert period and they have been directed to ensure their presence on duty. The heavy rain with thunderstorms lashed city on Wednesday night, immediately bringing K-Electric's power transmission infrastructure to a halt, and turning the city roads and streets into water pools, causing hardships for pedestrians and vehicular traffic in making ways.
The major portion of city faced prolonged load shedding, amid tripping of hundreds of feeders, falling of electric wires and poles, just in no time.
City's commercial activities remained largely thin all the day long; many private educational institutions were shut, while attendance at the government departments were short as rain water still inundating the city roads and streets. The rain also hit transport system, with trains schedules delayed, whereas public buses hardly available on city roads, causing inconvenience for commuters forcing them to wait at railway stations and bus stops for hours.
"Electricity went off, as rain started at around 9pm, plunging our area into darkness. KE took some 16 hours to restore the power," said Muhammad Murtaza, a resident of Malir's Ghazi Town. Another consumer, from Pak Colony in District West said his area experienced load shedding for a couple of hours Wednesday night.
A power sector expert said frequent power outages and unfortunate incidents of electrocutions have exposed tall claims of the Karachi based power company of investing over $2.1 billion in the infrastructure development since 2009. It is relevant to mention here that KE has already been facing an inquiry from National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) after more than 20 people were electrocuted in the previous two spells of monsoon rains in the last couple of months.
Around 13 FIRs have been lodged in police stations. A petition has also been filed in the Sindh High Court against KE on the said issue. Residents of Malir, Shah Faisal Colony, Korangi, North Nazimabad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Soldier Bazaar, Baldia Town, Landhi, Banaras and Lyari etc. have expressed serious concerns over the unhygienic conditions, chocked gutters, and prolonged power outages.
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