Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Tuesday blamed power cuts for over 500 deaths across the province, conceding that 'somewheere negligence has happened'. Speaking during Sindh Assembly session, he said that the K-Electric Managing Director had never responded to invitation by the chief minister house to discuss the power crisis in the city.
"The K-Electric is taking profit from electricity load shedding like a businessman capitalising on scarcity of goods," he observed, saying that the K-Electric top management had been asked to look into the matters personally in Karachi who had pledged to pour investment into the power supply company to make the conditions better. "The prevailing situation tells that nothing has been done," he told the house.
He assured the house that the he would again initiate a talk with the K-Electric with a view to make things workable and warned that the option was open to take action against the power supplier if any solution did not work at the end. The Sindh Disaster Management Authority has been asked to set up a helpline to provide facilities to the patients of heat-stroke, he said, adding that the hospitals had been asked to make separate arrangements for heat-stroke patients.
He also expressed sorrow over the deaths of 200 people due to heat wave in other districts of the province. "Temperature surged to around 50 degree centigrade in other districts of the province confining people to their homes," he said. Qaim Ali Shah announced that markets will be closed by 9 pm just to conserve power for home use and reduce power outages. Signboards will also remain powered off in the evening, he said and thanked the Pakistan Rangers for setting up heat-stroke centers in the city.
Earlier, Opposition leader in the house Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hasan showed worries over the heat-stroke deaths in the city, saying that morgues had run out of capacity to accommodate more bodies. He said the grave-diggers were demanding high rates, asking the chief minister to direct the deputy commissioners to control the situation in the graveyards of the city. He said that the government should work on war-footing and provide relief goods to the patients of heat-stroke. He urged the government to ask the K-Electric, Hesco and Sesco to ensure uninterrupted power supply to hospitals. On the request of Sindh Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Sikandar Mandhro, the speaker allowed to suspend the post-budget debate to mourn the deaths of over 500 people who mainly died from heat-stroke in the province. Speaker Aga Siraj Khan Durrani expressed grief and blamed the power shortage for the deaths.
Comments
Comments are closed.