'Cleaning storm drains not enough for city's urban flooding crisis'

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said on Tuesday that cleaning drains was not enough to solve Karachi's drainage problem.

The chief minister was presiding over a meeting held to review the post-monsoon situation created following the two-day rain in the metropolitan city. The meeting was also attended by Minister for Local Government Nasir Hussain Shah, Minister for education and Labour Saeed Ghani, commissioner Karachi and managing Director of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board.

“Buildings have been constructed over natural aqueducts,” said CM Murad. “There are encroachments along drains due to which rainwater does not pass through," he said, adding that local bodies should have a proper mechanism. "What SOPs would be followed if there is 30 mm rainfall, and similarly, what SOPs would be followed in case of 40 mm rainfall,” he said.

Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah said that he was on the roads during the rains. "Water was drained from main causeways as soon as the rain stopped," he claimed.

“However, some problems were caused in areas where drains were choked” Shah said.

Moreover, CM Murad issued directives for fixing designs of roads and drains that are flawed. “I need a detailed plan of areas where water seeped inside houses,” Murad stated.

He further asked for the plan of all 28 sub-divisions of the city to be submitted to him. "I will assign the duty of a minister or advisor to each sub-division,” he observed.

The CM further called for a plan to be in consultation with the best engineers of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, Sindh Solid Waste Management Authority (SSWMA), Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and District Municipal Corporations (DMCs).

As many as 10 people, including a child, had died in the last two days of rainfall in the city.

At least five people were reported to have died on Monday due to electrocution and structural collapse as the ongoing monsoon spell turned many roads in Karachi into rivers of filthy rainwater, and left many houses and shops flooded.

The Sindh government, though, insisted that the situation "could have been worse."