KARACHI: Under serious criticism of the opposition parties and civil society, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday defended the performance of the city administration led by his adviser and spokesman for the provincial government showing full confidence that his Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), “which’s serving Karachiites with heart and soul”, would win the upcoming local bodies’ elections to bring its Karachi mayor.

Sounded well-prepared and unhappy with the criticism his government was facing after the ‘disaster’ during the rains, he came up with a comparative data in an attempt to prove the better performance of the Karachi administration despite much heavier rainfall this year.

Describing his government’s critics as “the so-called champions of the city”, the chief minister said that the rainwater was wiped out from the city in the shortest possible time except from the low-lying areas in the metropolis.

“But some so-called champions of the city are accusing the provincial government of its failure to drain out the accumulated rainwater but the fact is that the city has been cleared, except the low lying areas by the evening of July 11,” he claimed.

Lambasts opposition for ‘undue criticism’ over rain adversities

“Our government has served the people of Karachi with heart and soul. And I am sure the PPP will clinch the slot of [Karachi] mayor during the upcoming local bodies’ election.”

Taking questions from journalists, he admitted the presence of some serious flaws in the Karachi’s infrastructural system that had badly damaged the city’s drainage system, but referred to the past “illegal activities” that allowed construction over nullahs even by the government institutions.

“Various areas such as Saadi Town and areas of cantonments have been constructed on natural waterways which have blocked the natural flow of rainwater,” he said.

The local government office at Tughlaq House was built on the storm-water drain, he said and referred to some other constructions built on nullahs.

“I have not built or allowed these encroachments on nullahs. But yes, now I’ll take it up at the cabinet meeting and if it allows, I would bulldoze the local government department office on the nullah first and then request the others to follow the course.”

He said the city recorded 342.2 millimetres of rains in less than 18 hours of span between July 10 and 11, which brought about major challenges for the city administration, but despite all odds it managed to perform with all available resources.

He shared a plan of capacity building of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) and also about the launch of some new rainwater disposal projects.

“By 2010, the KWSB had one fleet of 36 suction and jetting machines,” said Mr Shah. “Frequent sewage overflows are encountered across Karachi due to overloading of the sewerage system. The addition of 20 new suction & jetting machines has improved KWSB’s capacity to clean and de-silt the affected sewerage system of Karachi. Another 56 suction & jetting machines are being added to existing fleet under a World Bank funded project and in this way the total number of machines will be increased to 112 within next six months.”

Responding to a question, he said that the DHA had a problem in disposal of rainwater.

Last year, he added, the DHA had constructed a drainage system, but it failed to cater to the requirement of such a heavy rainfall. The Sindh government was in touch with the DHA and Cantonment authorities to help them in this regard, he said.

Criticises opposition parties

The Sindh CM also criticised the opposition parties — the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) — and accused them of contributing to weakening the city’s infrastructure while they had been enjoying local government in the city mainly under a dictator rules.

He also questioned the performance of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) which despite winning mandate from Karachi and enjoying government in the Centre “did not give anything to this city”.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2022