PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday said he hoped the federal government would fulfil its "constitutional duty" and help Sindh in the wake of the devastating rains in the province, particularly in Karachi where a record-breaking downpour has claimed several lives and severely damaged the city’s infrastructure.
The scion of the Bhutto dynasty also asked the Sindh chief minister to seek the Centre’s assistance and step up rescue and relief activities in the province.
He further said a survey should be conducted to ascertain the damage caused to public and private property because of the heavy rains.
Bilawal noted that not only had the rains wreaked havoc in the province’s cities, but also caused immense losses to farmers in rural areas.
“The agricultural sector is the country’s backbone and rains have destroyed farmers' crops,” he noted.
The PPP chief also asked the provincial government to take urgent measures to repair the roads damaged by the downpour.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has directed the Karachi commissioner to coordinate with navy and army teams for the evacuation of people stranded in Sukkuan Nadi and Malir River.
According to reports submitted to the chief minister by deputy commissioners, some people living on banks of Sukkan and Malir rivers are trapped amid the flooding caused by heavy rains. He directed the Karachi commissioner to request armed forces to rescue the stranded people shift them to a school building in Malir district.
The chief minister also directed the Provincial Disaster Management Authority to arrange food and other necessary items for the people affected by flooding.
He directed the PDMA to arrange tents, dry food items and drinking water for the people who would be shifted to camps.
Karachi is continuing to reel from the devastation caused by the record-breaking rainfall that lashed the city a day on Thursday as death toll from the downpour climbed to 34.
The bodies of 10 more people who died of drowning were fished out from various waterways and a woman was electrocuted by a live wire underwater.
The deaths in the city since Thursday have mainly been caused by drowning, structural collapse and electrocution.
The heavy rains have left its infrastructure in tatters – urban flooding inundating several neighborhoods and thoroughfares and residents suffering without electricity and cellular services for several hours.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department recorded 230.5mm of rain in Karachi on Thursday, the highest ever recorded in a single day. It also broke the record for the highest amount of rain during the month of August in the city since 1931.
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