As the monsoon season is on the brink, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) held a Rain Emergency session on Wednesday to work out a plan to avoid the submergence of roads and towns from flooding water and clogging of sewers in the port city as has been the case last year.
According to the details of the session today, the huddle mulled over ways to avoid the accumulation of water in the underpasses and roads amid the monsoon, as the Karachi administrator instructed precautionary measures taken to avoid untoward incidents in the heavy-rain season.
Keep all the water pumps on a stand-by, the administrator said suggesting a readily availability of them to clean roads when they are inundated.
The administrator has also directed the relevant engineers to conduct a survey of the downhill and steepish areas that are most likely to be deluged if the rains pour.
Responding to the administrator’s directives, the officials confirmed the city has 17 dewatering pumps at the moment, to which he responded that all of them be employed to clear the water-engulfed roads.
The administrator said a strategy needs to be hammered out to avoid the floods dabbling towards the underpasses and to employ as many mechanical experts as possible to ensure expedited works.
Another set of directions were to clean the clogged stormwater drains with a focus on the areas that have been greatly affected in the past.
Separately to happen in Lahore, the Lahore High Court (IHC) directed the authorities concerned to ensure the sale of sugar at Rs80/kg in the holy month of Ramazan.
A bench of Lahore High Court (LHC) heard sugar mills petition challenging the government’s order of fixing the ex-mill sugar price at Rs80.