At least three people lost their lives as the second straight day of moderate to heavy rain turned many roads in Karachi into rivers on Monday, with the Sindh government showing helplessness in the face of “natural calamities” and saying the situation “could have been worse” had it not been for its efforts. Residents took to social media to vent their anger about the now all-too-familiar devastation caused by the showers and shared videos that showed rainwater mixed with sewage surging through narrow alleys, people using boats to cross roads and cars floating away on flooded roads as if they were made of plastic. The three people who died all lost their lives due to electrocution, officials said. Two labourers were electrocuted in Mochko area the evening. Station House Officer Wasim Ahmed said heavy rain had created a pond inside Al-BadarGodown, which deals with the crushing of stones, located on Suparco Road. Four labourers were trying to install a suction motor to remove rainwater when they suffered an electric shock. Two of them died while the other two suffered a minor shock. The bodies were shifted to Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi to fulfill legal formalities. In another incident, a 45-year-old man was electrocuted in Orangi Town’s Sector 11-1/2 while trying to turn on a motor, according to Pakistan Bazaar SHOIqbal Husain Tunio. On a visit to different areas of the city, Sindh Minister for Local Government NasirHussain Shah appeared to defend the provincial government’s efforts, saying torrential rainfall manifests itself in the form of a “natural calamity”, which he said “no human being has control over”. While conceding that the situation is “not 100 per cent”, Shah claimed that the Sindh government has been implementing emergency measures for the last several months under a “comprehensive and integrated policy”. “We have no hesitation in saying that if the Sindh government had not taken timely steps to clean storm-water drains, the situation could have been even worse,” he added.
