Swamped

Crumbling infrastructure gives in to first monsoon spell

KARACHI: The city remained paralysed for the second consecutive day as the torrential downpour wreaked havoc upon its crumbling infrastructure, forcing citizens to remain indoors. All major markets remained shut as the roads in most parts of the city were inundated with rainwater, making it nearly impossible for motorists to ply on them. Those who chose to remain home fared no better, with prolonged power outages making their lives miserable.

Casualties

At least 21 people have been killed over the last couple of days in rain-related incidents, the majority of them due to electrocution. The figure includes the 11 people killed due to electrocution on Monday. Moreover, scores of people have been injured in incidents of roof and wall collapse.



At least seven other people have died in other parts of the province since the downpour started on Monday morning.

Rain in numbers

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, the city received a maximum of 164.9 millimetres of rain since Monday morning. Surjani Town received the maximum rainfall at164.9mm, while Keamari received the lowest at 26.8mm. The Met department has forecast that scattered rain will continue till Wednesday (today), saying that heavy showers are not expected henceforth as the system has been diverted to the sea.

The worst-affected were people in low-lying areas, who spent the better part of the day, draining water that had entered their homes.

Power woes

For the second consecutive day, the electricity supply system was crippled as technical faults in the network couldn't be fixed even after 48 hours. The K-Electric, meanwhile, kept disseminating misleading messages despite the fact that the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority took notice of the citizens' plight and sought a response from the KE over its failure to resolve their issues.

According to KE officials, the power supply was disrupted due to technical faults at over 5,000 locations across the city. Many areas experienced power outages for over 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the KE issued a statement on Tuesday evening, saying that, "The power supply situation in Karachi remained under control as the city witnessed rainfall for the second consecutive day."



Hyderabad submerged

Several localities of Hyderabad remained under water and the power outages also continued for the second day, as citizens took to the streets to protest in several areas. Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah paid a whirlwind visit to Hyderabad's City, Latifabad and Qasimabad areas between 2am and 4am on Tuesday, scolding the officials of the Water and Sanitation Agency for their poor performance.

He held Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO) responsible for the prolonged delay in draining out the rainwater because the company shut down all of its electric feeders in Hyderabad for 18 to 24 hours. The outage, reportedly in many other feeders, continued even after 24 hours.

The CM asked chief executive officer of HESCO, Abdul Haq Memon, to set up his camp office in the office of Hyderabad Commissioner, noting that a lack of coordination among the district administration and HESCO compounded the problems. "Since 2006, it's the heaviest downpour in Hyderabad," said the CM, quoting the Pakistan Meteorological Department's authorities.

Hyderabad's City, Qasimabad and Latifabad talukas received 188 millimetres of rain in around 16 hours on Monday. The PMD's observatory at Hyderabad Airport had recorded 125mm. At least six people died on Monday in rain-related deaths including two in Tando Allahyar, one each in Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Sanghar and Noshehro Feroze districts.  Three persons in Sanghar and Tando Allahyar district lost their lives after they were reportedly struck by lightning.



On the CM's instruction, the district administration very belatedly set up a rain emergency center at the office of Additional Relief Commissioner. However, HESCO has still not set up an emergency complaint center. The company's spokesman, Sadiq Kubar, said the central complaint center 118 of the ministry of energy's power division has been registering the complaints. The company had set up an emergency complaint center in the month of Ramazan.

"Mistakes have definitely happened. We will look into them after dealing with the prevailing situation," the CM said. The officials of WASA told the CM that the electric supply of its filtration plants remained suspended for three days owing to which water shortage cropped up in the city.

On Tuesday, the PMD recorded over 10 mm of rain by 6pm though the downpour ended after 6.30pm. The low-lying localities, mainly in Qasimabad and Latifabad, where rainwater entered the homes continued the battle of draining. "We were hardly finished with clearing our home after Monday's rain before it rained again on Tuesday," said Imran, a resident of Ali Nagar in Qasimabad. Hyderabad's main roads, including Autobahn Road, Thandi Sarak and Wadu Wah Road, among others, remained largely under water for the second day, creating problems for commuters. The power outage particularly traumatised motorcyclists whose punctured bikes could not be repaired due to the power outage at the tyre shops.

The headquarters of Hyderabad region's bureaucracy, Shahbaz Building, remained submerged for the second day. HESCO claimed that only 19 electric feeders out of more than 80 in Hyderabad were closed for safety reasons on Tuesday, but a visit around the city presented a different picture with darkness evident in most localities.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2019.