Business community has expressed concern on damages caused by monsoon rain to roads, utilities and basic infrastructure in Karachi. Senior Vice President of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), Sheikh Khalid Tawab has urged the Chief Minister and head of all relevant departments to take cognisance of the situation and issue necessary instructions to the concerned officials to take needed measures immediately and also in future to meet any untoward situation likely to be caused by the monsoon rain.
"The damages have unmasked the inefficiency and mismanagement of the concerned departments who did not undertake any pre-emptive measures despite the fact that Meteorological Department had repeatedly forecasted heavy rains in the current monsoon season," said Mr. Tawab.
He further said that the roads were inundated with the filthy sewerage and rainy water that created unhygienic conditions and impeded the smooth traffic flow and Eid shopping at bazaars. He said that power outage for more than 48 hours in most of the areas also badly affected the supply of potable water.
Muhammad Mustafa said leaking waterlines and overflowing gutters were not only hampering the smooth flow of vehicular traffic but also extensively damaging roads in different parts of the city.
"Main University Road from Karachi University to Safoora Goth has been in a dilapidated due to recent rains which disturb smooth flow of traffic," he said adding that the road from Safoora Goth to Kiran Hospital was also ruined but no efforts had been made by the City administration to get it re-carpeted. He said that big ditches somewhere on roads, driving vehicles has become almost impossible.