KARACHI - Political parties on Saturday lashed out at the Sindh government led by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the municipal authorities for what they described as their ill-preparedness to deal with the aftermath of rain in the provincial capital.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) legislator Khurram Sher Zaman blasted the Sindh government and the municipal authorities for not preparing for rains and cleaning the sewerage system before the rainfall. The poor sewerage and drainage system has paralysed the transportation system of Karachi, he said.
He said that a lack of preparation for rain exposed Sindh government and municipal authorities’ incompetence. Their response to flooded streets and thoroughfares throughout Karachi was quite slow. It appears that residents of this megacity have been left on their own, as no provincial or local government official was seen on the ground helping the people, he said.
The PTI lawmaker said the chief minister had begun his photo-op tour of Karachi, as a huge contingent of media persons accompanied him to various localities. He said the people of Karachi need action, not photo-op visits by the chief minister and others. He demanded that the Sindh government and the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) take immediate measures to pump out the water from major roads and clean the sewerage system.
A spokesperson for the Jamaat-e-Islami said that claims of making Karachi a metropolitan city were washed away by the first shower of the winter and it seemed the city would have been wiped out if the rain continues for some more days. Expressing his grief over deaths in rain-related incidents, he said it was unfortunate that no steps had been taken by the government and the municipal authorities for maintenance of the drainage system and disposal of waste on the streets. He said that city had become a pond where some political parties were playing the point-scoring game.
The miserable condition of the port city after the rain proved that the provincial rulers had raised just slogans instead of doing something concrete for the welfare of the people, said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Sindh Vice President Ali Akbar Gujjar. He said that people of the city were forced to live in fear for decades and development funds were transferred to Dubai, London and Canada.
He said that Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, after assuming charge of his office, initiated an operation against encroachments on drains, but desired results were not achieved. The provincial cabinet just paid lip service to the anti-encroachment operations and relied on photo sessions. Funds are being spent, but they are not being audited. “How many mega projects have they given to the city?” he asked. He said the PPP and MQM had turned the city into a “mega garbage city” and made people live a depressed live.
Commenting on the situation of the city, MQM-Haqqiqi leader Khalid Hameed said the first shower of winter season exposed the tall claims of Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and the municipal authorities. He said that municipal authorities failed to clean drains that converted roads into ponds. The suspension of power supply to the city by the K-Electric made the lives of citizens miserable. The provincial government of the PPP that came into power after winning elections in rural Sindh was treating Karachi like an orphan.
The so-called stakeholders of Karachi who came into power through vote rigging had not left any stone unturned to destroy the city and create problems for its people, he said. He said the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KW&SB) never seemed serious in performing its duty. The provincial and local governments were responsible for the miserable condition of the city, he said. He demanded that the federal government intervene to resolve the issues facing Karachi.
