KARACHI: Business community has expressed sheer disappointment over poor performance by federal and provincial governments, local bodies and K-Electric in dealing with various issues emerging from torrential rain across the city.

They said that the city needs concrete development package to uplift basic infrastructure from sewerage to drainage and good transport system. Mian Anjum Nisar, president, and Sheikh Sultan Rehman and Khurram Ejaz, vice presidents of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), have expressed their sorrow and grief over the loss of life and damage to property caused by torrential rains in Karachi.

They regretted that heavy rains have inundated the entire city and severely damaged the roads and exposed the already-weak infrastructure. Rainwater has entered factories, warehouses and homes and caused a heavy loss to the business community at large.

Most parts of the city remain without electricity. Generators are not working either because of the shortage of petrol due to which the drainage of water from factories, warehouses and other workplaces could not be made possible. Life has come to a standstill.

The city which contributes more than 60% of revenue and is the hub of Pakistan's economy is left at the mercy of nature, and relief measures are highly inadequate, they added.

They reminded the government that due to lockdown resulting from COVID-19, the economy of the metropolis had already suffered extensively and still not in a position to recover completely while torrential rains further aggravated the situation.

They further said that no precautionary measures were taken before rain which had been forecast well in advance. They said it is an extraordinary situation and requires extraordinary relief measures.

They termed this situation very alarming and asked the federal and Sindh governments to immediately take rehabilitation measures to restore normality to Karachi. They also appealed for developing comprehensive plans to resolve the longstanding issues of Karachi like waste management, water and sewerage, mass transit system, infrastructure and master plan.

Athar Chawla, Convener of the All Pakistan Restaurants Association (APRA), has expressed deep concern over lack of drainage system in restaurants across Karachi during rains, requesting the Sindh government, the DHA, the CBC and the departments concerned to ensure immediate drainage to save the restaurant industry.

Athar Chawla said that due to recent heavy rains in most parts of Karachi generally and especially in Defence, Clifton, PECHS, North Nazimabad, Nagan Chowrangi, Buffer Zone, Haideri, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Gulistan-e-Jauhar, restaurants there are flooded with several feet of rainwater, which has not been taken out so far due to which the food items have deteriorated while kitchens and furniture of the restaurants have been destroyed.

"Restaurant owners are draining rainwater but due to accumulation of several feet of rainwater outside the restaurants, they are facing difficulties in drainage," he added.

Four days have passed since rains stopped, but the DHA, CBC and other departments concerned did not make any arrangements for drainage of rainwater from the restaurants.

The restaurant industry has lost billions of rupees "due to negligence and incompetence of these institutions", he said. He further said that electric power should be restored to the areas where water has been depleted while financial assistance should be provided to the restaurant industry, or millions of workers risked unemployment.

President of Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum Mian Zahid Hussain said Karachi is one of the most mismanaged cities in the world. All the stakeholders are responsible for the collapse of infrastructure in Karachi which will hit the economy and masses throughout the country, he said.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that Karachi is contributing Rs2,600 billion to the national exchequer while improvements can boost revenue to Rs4,000 billion.

He said rains have stopped activities across Karachi while the port has been closed as staff and labourers cannot come to their jobs.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020