KARACHI: An important meeting on monsoon rains was held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Sindh Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah at Sindh Secretariat on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by Secretary Rehabilitation Nasim-ul-Ghani Sahito, Administrator Karachi Laeeq Ahmed, DGP PDMA Syed Salman Shah, all divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners, MD Sindh Solid Waste Management Board and officials of K-Electric. The chief secretary said that preparations should be made keeping in view last year’s rains and control rooms should be set up from where focal persons of all departments would be connected.
Instructing the cleaning of Nullahs and drains in Karachi, Hyderabad and other cities, he said that cleaning of all small and big Nullahs should be completed as soon as possible. Briefing the meeting the DG PDMA said that preparations were being made keeping in view monsoon rains. He said that there was a threat of urban flood in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Larkana cities.
He further said that monsoon rains in Pakistan occurred from July to September. He further said that according to Meteorological Department, rains with strong winds are likely in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Jacobabad, Tharparkar, MirpurKhas and Dadu. Salman Shah further said that control rooms had been set up at all divisional and district levels and training of KMC and DMK staff had been completed with the help of Pakistan Army.
The DG PDMA said that the Provincial Disaster Management Authority had 8845 tents, 57,000 blankets, 3,000 life jackets and 231 dewatering pumps. “The district administrations also had rehabilitation equipment with them,” he further informed.
Commissioner Karachi Naveed Ahmed Sheikh said that more than 550 small and big nullah drains of Karachi were being cleaned by the authorities. Instructing the PDMC, the chief secretary said that the number of de-watering pumps for pumping water should be increased, adding that the PDMA should provide its staff and vehicle along with the dewatering pump.
The chief secretary said that all departments should formulate contingency plan at district level to deal with the situation. The PDMA and the administration should be ready to deal with any situation during the rains. The chief secretary Sindh directed the officials of K-Electric, HESCO and SEPCO to ensure power supply for dewatering rain water. The KE officials said that K-Electric also had dewatering pumps for drainage of water from the city and steps were also being taken to protect K-Electric substations from the rain water.