KARACHI: At least four people died from electrocution as most parts of Karachi received intermittent rains on Wednesday.

The Met office said that the low pressure area hovering over southern Sindh for almost two days moved westward and Karachi was likely to receive light rain on Thursday (today).

Police, hospital and rescue workers said that Mohammed Rafiq, 50, was riding a motorbike when an electric wire fell on him on Habib Rehmatullah Road, popularly known as Stadium Road, near the Kingri House. He died on the spot. The body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for medico-legal formalities.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Haleem Adil Sheikh held the KE responsible for his death and said his party would get an FIR registered against the utility.

He said that the live wire snapped after short-circuit. Mr Sheikh, who visited the spot, observed that the power utility did not remove the wire more than two hours after the incident.

PTI holds KE responsible for the death of motorcyclist on Stadium Road; light rain likely today

In Hijrat Colony, 80-year-old Sher Dil died when he suffered an electric shock inside his home.

JPMC executive director Dr Seemin Jamali said his son brought the body to the hospital in a rickshaw.

In Federal B Area’s Block 4, labourer Mirza Rehman, 49, died after suffering from an electric shock, according to an Edhi Foundation spokesperson.

In Model Colony, Asghar Khan, 70 died of electrocution inside his home located on Sheet No 12.

Light rain likely

The department recorded maximum rainfall in Surjani Town (30.8mm) followed by North Karachi (23.4mm), PAF Base Masroor (10.2mm), PAF Base Faisal (8mm), Nazimabad (6.4mm), Saddar (6mm), University Road (5.8mm), Jinnah Terminal (4.4mm), Airport area (4mm), Landhi (3.7mm), Keamari (3.5mm) and Gulshan-i-Hadeed (1m).

The maximum temperature was 34.1 degrees Celsius with 70 per cent humidity.

The weather is expected to be partly cloudy to cloudy with chances of drizzle/light rain.

“The weather system has made significant movement towards the sea today and caused rain not just in Karachi but also in other parts of Sindh,” said city weatherman Sardar Sarfaraz.

According to him, the low pressure area was almost stationary for two days and is expected to fizzle out by Thursday afternoon. In this process, however, it’s likely to cause light rain.

“Once the weather system is over, Karachi is likely to have pleasant weather with partly floating clouds and resumption of sea breeze, a hallmark of the month of July,” he added.

WB funds desilting of drains

Mayor Wasim Akhtar on Wednesday directed his subordinates to expedite the cleanliness of storm-water drains and asked the provincial government to increase the machinery so that the task could be completed at the earliest.

He said currently 40 excavators and 80 dumpers were taking part in the cleanliness drive being jointly done by the World Bank (WB), Sindh government and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation.

“The World Bank has provided a fair amount of money to the Sindh government to carry out drains cleanliness. The nullahs were not cleaned since 2018,” he added.

The mayor passed these remarks while visiting different areas to review the cleanliness efforts. He visited Gujjar Nullah, Qalandaria Chowk, Cafe Pyala and Nazimabad. District Municipal Corporation-Central chairman Rehan Hashmi and others were also present.

Talking to media, Mayor Akhtar said that the amount provided by the World Bank should be utilised in the right manner.

He said in a meeting with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah it was decided that deputy commissioners would be provided funds to carry out cleanliness of small drains in each district but the amount was still not released.

He added that district Central had begun cleanliness on its own despite having limited resources but the same could not be carried out in other districts.

He urged that choke points should be fixed at the earliest or else the people would face difficulties.

The mayor said that they were trying to complete cleanliness of those small drains at the earliest, adding that the chief minister was approached many times but to no avail.

The mayor said that KE did not seem bothered to resolve issues being faced by Karachiites, and asked the power utility to ensure presence of its staff and vehicles to fix electricity-related issues during the rains to save valuable lives.

He asked the citizens to avoid going out unnecessarily and keep themselves away from electric poles.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2020