‘City lacks infrastructure to survive rain’

Mayor Karachi Wasim Akhtar expressed on Wednesday dismay over the “deplorable condition” of Karachi after rain and said the city lacked the infrastructure to survive downpours.

Rain water would not have entered houses had the provincial government cleaned drains in time, he said, adding that Karachiites faced miseries due to incompetence of the Sindh government.

The mayor expressed these views after inaugurating Queens Garden in North Nazimabad. On the occasion, Akhtar said the beautiful park was established on 5.5 acres of land, which was earlier littered with animals’ offal and garbage.

But now the park is a blessing for the citizens, he added. The mayor said he wanted to inaugurate the park way earlier but could not do so due to the pandemic and heavy rains.

He appealed to citizens to preserve the park. He said that uplift works initiated in the past were near completion and many development schemes had been included in the current fiscal year’s budget.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2020.