City Commissioner Iftikhar Ali Shallwani has ordered officials of concerned institutions to immediately get vacated dilapidated and under construction buildings in view of heavy rainfall across the metropolis, PO learnt on Thursday. Shallwani chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday which was attended by Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) director-general, deputy commissioners and representatives of the Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD). The commissioner ordered the institutions to immediately evacuate all dilapidated buildings due to the fresh spell of monsoon. He said that emergency measures will be taken following the directives of the Supreme Court (SC) to avoid any kind of losses and damages. The participants of the meeting also reviewed the action being taken against encroachments in different parts of the port including areas adjacent to Kidney Centre and Royal Park. The representatives of ABAD briefed the commissioner regarding the illegal buildings and constructions. Shallwani issued directives to present a progress report regarding the actions for bulldozing all illegal constructions across the metropolis. The power supply company, K-Electric (KE), wrote letters to the Commissioner Office and Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to take special steps for draining rainwater from 451 areas. In the letter, the power supply company said that KE staff faced trouble to continue technical work in the areas. The KE administration also provided the list of the affected areas to the commissioner office. It also stated that TV and internet cables were not removed from the KE infrastructure, whereas, the company has disconnected street light switches from all of its installations. Heavy downpour lashed different areas of Karachi on Thursday evening, inundating streets and leaving a major part of the port city without power.
