Sindh slams Centre’s ‘late response’ to rains

When the city’s urban flooding woes had already been resolved, the federal government had shown up to shed crocodile tears, said Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab, referring to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s decision to send a National Disaster Manager Authority (NDMA) team as well as army personnel to deal with the matter.

“It is a surprise and a pity that four days have passed since the rains in Karachi, the rainwater drainage problem has been resolved to a great extent and [now] the PM has remembered Karachi,” said Wahab in a video statement on Thursday.

He alleged that the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) paid heed to Karachi only when it needed votes or donations, adding that it had not fulfilled any of the campaign promises made to the people and its hypocrisy had now been exposed.

“Did anyone see the Sindh governor on the streets during the rainfall or did PTI’s lawmakers come out to help people?” he asked.

Meanwhile, PTI MPA Haleem Adil Sheikh said the provincial government was doing nothing to help Karachi, adding that the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, which had been allocated billions of rupees, was nowhere to be seen after the rains.

“Karachi was submerged after the rains. People suffered due to traffic jams, while streets were flooded because of lack of maintenance,” he said.

with additional input from APP

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2020.