KARACHI: The several parts of roads and streets in Karachi are presenting a look of ponds as rains continued to lash the megacity on Tuesday.

Pakistan Meteorological Department has reported more rains within 24 hours and urban flooding. Rain recorded milimeters in Karachi during the last 24 hours was as: Quaidabad 67, Gulshan Hadid 59; Jinnah Terminal, Korangi 43; Saadi Town, Faisal Base 38; University Road 33, DHA 21, Gulshan Maymar 17, Sarjani Town 15, Saddar 13, North Karachi 12, Keamari 09, Nazimabad 08, Gadap Town 06, Orangi, and Masroor Base 05.

The situation has worsened after heavy rain in Block 11 of Gulshan-e-Iqbal as the sewage system of the area has overflowed. Residents of the area are suffering a great deal of inconvenience as the rainwater and sewage together have inundated the area.

The pedestrians as well as the vehicles and the motorcyclists are the victims of the water accumulation in the area. The Yousuf Goth in Surjani town area of the city is also under water, as a result, citizens have been facing trouble in commuting.

Moreover, the situation in the Sindh High Court (SHC) and other courts has also worsened as the dirty water has accumulated in their compounds. The lawyers and the litigants are forced to pass through muddy water to reach the courts, for there are no cleaning arrangements on the premises of the courts.

Meanwhile, Karachi Commissioner Iqbal Memon visited Hub Canal along with Deputy Commissioner West Mir Ghulam Qadir Talpur to inspect a breach in Hub Canal. Water Board Deputy Managing Director Ayub Sheikh briefed the officers about the breach in the canal and steps to plug it.

Similarly, a 50-foot wide breach occurred in the nullah near Dargah Faqir in Nawabshah. The water, coming from the breached nullah, inundated hundreds of acres of land. Many villages in the area were submerged in the water. The staff of the Irrigation Department could not reach the spot to plug the breach despite information.

Residents of the nearby villages were reportedly busy plugging the breach on a self-help basis. In Khairpur Nathan Shah, more than 20 villages were submerged and dozens of mud houses collapsed following a flood-like situation in Salari area of Kachho after heavy rain.

According to the locals, no one of the authorities concerned came to save them from the flood which swept away everything, leaving them helpless. It is to be noted here that heavy rain continues in the city of Khairpur Nathan Shah for the past 24 hours. The roads in the city present the look of a pond, and rainwater has entered people’s houses. The Municipal Department staff has been ‘missing’ for two days.

Meanwhile, Commandant BMP Muhammad Ikram Malik inspected the rainwater channels in the Koh-e-Suleiman’s tribal areas early in the morning on Tuesday (today). He inspected the safety measures and quantity of rainwater in the nullahs and streams, directing immediate steps for restoring the rainwater channels in the tribal areas that had earlier been cut off.

The commandant got improved security measures on the routes of rainwater drainage in Koh-e-Suleiman. He also inspected the landslide-hit area in Koh-e-Suleiman and got the roads cleared. Speaking on the occasion, he said that safety measures were complete on the routes of the rainwater channels coming from the Koh-e-Suleiman’s tribal areas.

“No effort has been spared to protect the lives and properties of the tribal people and provide facilities to them,” he stated. “Relief camps have been set up. The officials of the BMP and Finance Department have been deployed along the routes of the rainwater channels in Koh-e-Suleiman,” he added. “Under the supervision of Dera Commissioner Usman Anwar and Deputy Commissioner Anwar Baryar, a relief campus control room has also been established,” he concluded.