KARACHI - Sindh Minister for Local Government, Information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and Minister for Education Saeed Ghani, while referring to the recent spell of heavy rains in Karachi, have said that the Sindh government has provided relief to all residents of the city, without any discrimination and cleared rainwater from all the areas in a limited time period.

They said this at a joint press conference held here at the Commissioner’s office on Sunday.

Nasir informed that two lakh tonnes of waste or refuse had been lifted from 36 drains in various parts of the city.

Nasir further said that 35 percent of Karachi fell in the jurisdiction of cantonment boards, Pakistan Railways, KPT and Civil Aviation Authority, but the Sindh government provided relief to all residents without any discrimination.

Talking about the encroachments, he said that people had built their homes, multi-story buildings, petrol pumps and marriage halls alongside nullahs for quite sometime now.

Nasir also gave a detailed briefing on the nullahs cleanliness in six districts of Karachi. The minister for local government, while answering a question, said that the chief minister of Sindh had visited the rain-affected areas and was personally monitoring the relief operations in Johi, in district Dadu.

Towards the end, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah complained that Prime Minister Imran Khan had promised Rs162 billion for Karachi; a promise which was still to be materialized.

Rainwater in Larkana not drained out as yet

Residents faced trouble due to negligence of the mayor, Larkana Municipal Corporation (LMC) and Chairmen, Union Committees (UCs) as stagnant rainwater and overflowing sewage in most of the areas had neither been drained out nor heaps of garbage had been lifted.

The affected localities included Murad Wahan, Bhains Colony, Shahu Boraho, Nazar Muhalla, Rahmatpur, Gasket Depot, Allahabad, Khaliq Colony, Rasulabad, Hussaini Muhalla, Yar Muhammad Colony, Mumtaz Colony, Faisal Colony, Railway Colony and other areas.

In this connection, residents of these areas Jinsar Chandio, Farooque Soomro, Rafique Kalhoro, Nadim Soomro, Suhail Tunio, Shankar Magsi, Yasir Magsi and others held a protest demonstration here and complained to media persons that the above localities were being step-motherly treated by the Larkana mayor and UCs chairmen which was discrimination.

They said, “Cleanliness is the basic right of every citizen but it is only made in selected areas where influential people live and residents of other localities have been left unattended and they are suffering from various deadly diseases due to uncleanliness and non-lifting of piled-up garbage which can be seen in every street of these areas.”

They said the worst affected was the old locality of Murad Wahan which had become a no-go area for the residents as its main road was filled with highly contaminated overflowing sewage water with the worst smell all around which indeed was intolerable.

They urged PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to have mercy on the citizens of Larkana and at least make it as beautiful as Nawabshah had been made.