Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan, is wholly unprepared for a heavy monsoon downpour in the city which according to the Met Office may trigger flash urban floods in vulnerable areas. Many roads of the city, especially the Shahra-e-Jamia from Karachi University to the Safoora Chowrangi, are still under puddles of stagnant rainwater, when the Met Office has warned of new and heavy rains.
The Sindh local government department, KMC, KDA and district municipal corporations showed a complete lack of preparedness during last rains due to non-professional bureaucracy, corruption and kickback culture. The citizens fear that many low-lying areas of the metropolis would go inundated in the heavy rains really trigger flash floods. Pathetic sanitary conditions would certainly result in increase of waterborne diseases.
Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) leader and senior ENT surgeon Dr Qaiser Sajjad said heavy rains have already brought miseries to the Karachiites. He said the drainage and garbage collection systems of the city are total failures and the government hospitals have already been overburdened. In these conditions, heavy rains, flash floods and urban inundation would certainly rise the number of patients of waterborne diseases, but the city authorities seem not wholly prepared to tackle the potential outbreak of dengue, malaria, typhoid, gastro, hepatitis, skin, eye and ENT diseases, he said.
He said in Karachi, water and sewerage lines run side by side and their water often go mixed, especially during rains. He suggested that the citizens should use boiled water and do not allow their children playing in stagnant rainwater, which is often mixed with gutter water. He said the PMA has already issued guidelines for the citizens how to save them and their families from waterborne diseases. He, however, stressed the need of supply of sufficient medicine stock in the government-run hospitals, who he said would bear a huge load of patients during rains and the post-rains days.
Pasban-e-Pakistan President Altaf Shakoor told PPI that the civic infrastructure of Karachi has already been in shambles. He said the city in its present condition has not capacity to sustain any urban flooding. He said flash floods in Gadap and nearby areas have already been noted in the city and any heavy rains would play havoc with the low lying areas of the metropolitan, but our bureaucracy is not prepared to plan for these things. He said there is a dire need to revamp the basic civic infrastructure of the city, especially its drainage system so that people may not brave problems during rains.
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Sindh chapter amir Dr Merajul Huda Siddiqui said that Sindh province badly needs rains, as water table has already gone down and in many areas including Karachi and good rains would certainly help in recharging the underground water reservoirs. He said showers would be greatly beneficial for the paddy crop in many areas of Sindh.
He said had we planned proper drainage of rain water and created small and medium sized dams to store their water there would have nothing to worry about the rains, but sadly our planners at government level lack this vision. Dr Huda said local government polls were held in 2015, but now even passing of the first half of the year 2016, powers are not devolved to the elected representatives and local bodies institutions are yet to be formed.
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