Karachi: Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor expressing serious concern over deaths due to release of some poisons gas in Keamari locality, regretted that not the port district, but the whole megacity also, lacks a mechanism of emergency preparedness.
He said no any other megacity in whole world is run haphazard and unprofessional manner saving our Karachi. He said there are just three big government hospitals to cater this megacity. He said despite repeated demands of public, the Sindh government has so far failed to establish free-standing emergency rooms at union council level in the megacity, so that people could get immediate emergency help in case of some big mishap, instead of rushing them to the three big government hospital which are even 20 to 25 kilometers away from some suburban areas of the megacity.
He said fire brigade service is in pathetic shape, while ambulance service is mostly being run on philanthropic basis. He said the city hospitals lack trained doctors and surgeons and emergency care nurses. He said God forbid, if the megacity Karachi faced some major disease attack, its healthcare system would fall to knees within a few hours.
He said rampant pollution and heaps of garbage in Karachi are a question mark on the performance of Sindh government, as well as, KMC. He said the megacity does not have a public transport system worth its salt. He said the KCR is put on the back burner while Green Line rapid bus transit is going ahead with snail pace and it does not seem possible that it would get completed in this decade, with this level of negligence and apathy at the levels of Sindh and federal government. He said the Sindh transport department is amongst the most corrupt and most inefficient government departments of not only Sindh but whole Pakistan, but the PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto and his provincial government in Sindh led by chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah are the least concerned.
He said the release of mysterious fatal poisonous gas in a busy port district near sensitive installations is the most serious issue, but the ministers at federal and provincial level seems clueless and confused.
He said several years ago the Japanese government has donated a modern mobile air quality laboratory having costly equipment but the Sindh government instead of using it on roads parked it abandoned, where it went rusted and wasted. He asked is there a higher level of apathy and criminal negligence about the issues pertaining to life and health of citizens in any other megacity of the world.
Altaf Shakoor appealed the apex judiciary to take a suo moto notice of this very serious issue and summon the senior most officials to explain why this tragedy occurred in a crowded commercial and residential neighborhood of the megacity.