Staff Report
HYDERABAD/MIRPURKHAS : Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that out of 38 storm water drains of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) only three have been given to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for removing the sludge and cleaning of rest of the drains have been undertaken by the provincial government. “I have been on the roads for the last two days- on Monday I visited Karachi and on Tuesday visited Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas to review rain emergency arrangements and mobilize the concerned departments/organizations to implement a contingency plan.”This he said while talking to media here at Commissioner office, Hyderabad on Tuesday evening. He was flanked by Local Government Minister Nasir Shah, MPAs, Sharjeel Inam Memon, Jam Khan Shoro, Abdul Jabbar and others.The chief minister said that on July 26 and 27 Karachi received heavy rains, therefore some of the nallas got choked due to certain reasons. “AT this the prime minister taking notice sent chairman NDMA to help the provincial government,” he said and added he was thankful to the PM and the NDMA for extending helping hand but “If the prime minister is really sincere in helping his government, he would finance mega projects instead of giving small drainage and water supply schemes for a few streets of Karachi,” he said.To a question, the chief minister said that they [fed govt] wanted to engage them in a media war but “we have a lot of work to redress public problems and could not spare time for their irresponsible statements and discussions,” he said. Hyderabad: The chief minister replying to a question said that out of 26 points/pumping stations of WASA 23 have been provided with dual power connection so that they couldn’t fail to pump out rain water. He said that rain water could not be disposed of in gravity but it was always pumped out due to the peculiar location of the city. “I have held a meeting here today with all the stakeholders, including HMC, HESCO, WASA, Irrigation, deputy commissioner and commissioner to review their rain emergency arrangements and address the shortcoming, if any,” he said and added he has directed the divisional administration to remain on toes to manage heavy downpour, if it rains as per warning of the Met department. To a question, the chief minister said that he released Rs70 million to Hyderabad division, of which Rs40 million have been earmarked for district Hyderabad, Rs5 million for badin and Rs2.5 million for District Tando Mohammad Khan for cleaning of nallas and monsoon preparation. He added that Rs20 million have been rel;eased to DC Hyderabad for cleaning of Nallas and Rs5 million have been disbursed to HMC and WASA to meet expenditures on account of hiring standby generators and fuel.The chief minister, to another question, said that there were some Public Health engineering department schemes in rural areas of Hyderabad division which needed to be properly functional. “I am sending Minister PHE Shabir Bijarani to Hyderabad on Wednesday to meet with the divisional administration and inspect all his drainage schemes so that they can operate at their full capacity,” he said. Earlier, Commissioner Hyderabad briefing the chief minister said that districts of Thatta, Sujawal and Badin shared a 100 km coastline right from Bambhore to Sajanwari and Kharochhan. He added that many villages situated at Garho, Juho, Keti Bandar and Sajwari have been protected through katcha band from sea water. At this the chief minister said that the band has been strengthened to sustain pressure of high tide during heavy rains. It was pointed out in the meeting that SIM nalla has not been desilted as yet. At this the chief minister directed the Irrigation department to start de-silting the nalla from tomorrow and report him.The chief minister directed the HESCO chief present in the meeting to ensure uninterrupted power supply to all the pumping stations of the city. Mirpurkhas: The chief minister during his visit to Mirpurkhas directed the divisional administration to cancel the leaves of all the staff of essential services during the on-going monsoon season. The cancellation order of leaves would be applicable all over Sindh, he said.Commissioner Mirpurkhas Mr Wahab Shaikh briefing the chief minister said that the district-wise resources have been made available. There are three districts in Mirpurkhas where 89 dewatering pumps have been made operational. The CM was told that Mirpurinkhas division has 223.19 km long 29 nallas with a capacity of 782.70 cusecs design discharge.The chief minister directed the divisional administration of Mirpurkhas to monitor weather forecast regularly and also monitor canal gauges properly so that surplus supplies could be diverted to Ranto, Ajhu, Kalankar and Kakahu Escapades as first priority. He also directed the administration to divert surplus supplies to Dhoro Puran, Dhoro Hakro. The chief minister visited Dhoro Puran Outfall Drain where de-silting was in progress. Complaints: The people of Mirpurkhas and Hyderabad divisions, including elected representatives complained against HESCO authorities for resorting to 18 hour prolonged load-shedding. They also said that most of the transformers of rural areas of Mirpurkhas and Hyderabad were out of order. “When any transformer goes out of order the villagers are asked to pay for its repair,” MNA Pir Aftab Shah Jilani said. The people also complained against inflated power bills. The people were too much annoyed by power distribution company, HESCO, and warned to stage a protest demonstration , if it failed to improve its performance.
