JI, MQM tenures to ascertain who played havoc, says Murad
Staff Reporter
Blaming too much rain in the minimum time period for the collapse of Karachi’s road infrastructure as well damage to people’s properties, Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday asked critics of the Sindh government to tell what they had done for the port city.
Addressing a press conference in Karachi, he said, “Who says we were not prepared for the rains.”
He went on to say that parts of the Sindh capital received record 127 millimetres of rain in just three hours. “District South of the city received 343 millimetres of rain between July 5 and July 12,” the CM informed.
Truth of the matter was that, he added, that opponents of the PPP as well as of the provincial government were only fond of point scoring.
“What PTI did for the city during its four-year stay in the corridors of power. Our detractors should rather appreciate us for taking best decisions in difficult circumstances,” he claimed.
Murad reminded that last time Karachi was lashed by record-breaking rains was in 2020. “We should bear this thing in mind that this is because of the phenomenon of ‘climate change’ that the Sindh capital as well as other parts of the province are receiving excessive rains,” he emphasized.
He also rubbished reports that all concerned staff was absent because of Eid holidays.
The chief minister invited all to point out shortcomings in the Sindh government’s governance so that improvements could be made and such natural disasters could be better tackled in future. Meanwhile Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the city received a record rain of 342.4 mm between July 10 (from 8 pm to July 11 upto 2 pm) even then the rainwater was disposed of as and when the rain stopped.
“But some so-called champions of the city are accusing the provincial government of its failure to drain out the accumulated rainwater, as a matter of fact the city was cleared, except the low lying areas by the evening of July 11.”
This he said while addressing a press conference at CM House. Provincial Ministers, Sharjeel Inam Memon, Imtiaz Shaikh, Syed Nasir Shah, Advisor to CM Rasool Bux Chandio were present on the occasion.
Mr Shah said that in 2007 the city had received 140 mm rainfall and the entire city had turned into the largest cesspit of stagnant water and over 200 people had died.
The then minister of health had given these figures. “It was not our tenure and the city had drowned with a downpour of 140 mm,” he was surprised.
