Karachiites fear more sufferings in second spell of monsoon expected from Saturday (today), due to lack of coordination and blame game amongst all civic agencies to take the ownership of the city in this emergency like situation. The first phase of Federal sponsored Clean Karachi campaign is underway to clear major city drains before the Eidul Azha, but the ruling Sindh Government which is the key stakeholder in the metropolis, appeared least interested in collaborating the drive, apparently due to political reasons.
Mayor Karachi Waseem Akhtar, who has undertaken the cleanliness drive along with the federal maritime affairs' minister Ali Zaidi, blamed the PPP-led provincial government for not cooperating with the local bodies' setup and holding financial and administrative powers of key revenue departments of the resource-starved Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC).
Advisor to Sindh Chief Minister on Information and archives, law and anti-corruption Barrister Murtaza Wahab blamed MQM for the decay of Karachi, and termed the mayor as 'incompetent' to do anything. K-Electric, the sole electricity provider to Karachi, instead of improving its power transmission network to avoid electrocutions during rains, has called upon the city administration to drain-out stagnant rainwater around power infrastructure, terming it a 'huge impediment for the power company'.
Karachiites said this blame game tendency and lack of coordination among stakeholders at the advent second spell of monsoon, which may cause urban flooding, if all civic agencies did not standout on their toes and carry out coordinated effects to avoid such untoward situation. The heavy rains will result into huge loss of lives. The city's civic infrastructure which has been suffering from years of neglect will once again crumble when the rains hit.
The urban planners are of the view that flooding is a chronic issue in Karachi which is compounded by the weakness of other infrastructure such as a leaking and clogged sewerage system, growing heaps of garbage and a dilapidated road network which regresses into potholes and sinkholes when it rains. Karachi is claimed by many, but practically owned by none that causes suspension in the operations of all key services including fire department, ambulance, water supply and electricity etc. in any natural calamity, increasing the miseries of the inhabitants of the port city.
The recent rains wrecked the entire city life, gulping 21 lives including minors in electrocution, while many localities are still inundated with rainwater. Major storm drains clogged with wastage that left parks, playgrounds and inner arteries of several localities with sewerage and rainwater.
On the other hand, K-Electric instead of taking arrangements on a war-footing basis and offer compensation to the bereaved families, who lost their loved ones due to its negligence putting the responsibility of all its failures to the encroachment and stagnant waters around its power infrastructure, which is nothing but an escape from its legitimate duty to provide safe power supply.
Recently, K-Electric wrote a letter to Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani imploring the custodians of the city and concerned stakeholders to come together on a common platform and do something to ensure that the chaos that emanated after the last rains is not repeated.
Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) officials in a meeting held at the Sindh Chief Minister House the other day informed that a well-marked monsoon low pressure has formed over North Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas, likely to move westward and reach Indian Gujarat around Morning of August 9, 2019.
Under the influence of the this system, they said widespread rains/wind thunderstorms with a few moderate to heavy falls may occur in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad division in the next couple of days.
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