Karachi: Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday called for institutionalising a ‘solid mechanism’ against flooding in the city, a news source reported. He specifically stressed the need to ‘save the low-lying areas where the rainwater has flooded the houses’ through the implementation of such a system.
The CM expressed these remarks while chairing a meeting to review the monsoon situation and cleanliness of storm-water drains. Murad stated that the local bodies should have an emergency plan to deal with the heavy rains and flooding in Karachi.
The CM highlighted that this plan should cover low-lying areas, choking points, culverts of storm-water drains and their catchment areas, and bottlenecks. He added that the local bodies should identify these points on a map to deploy the required staff and machinery in case of heavy downpours.
On the other hand, the CM asked for looking after Karachi on a sub-divisional level. He said elected representatives should be assigned the duty in their respective divisions to ensure proper disposal of accumulated water. He ordered the local government minister to see to the removal of encroachments from storm-water drains and their cleaning under the World Bank-assisted programme.
