CM visits flood-hit Hyderabad

Proceeds with roadworks while flash floods submerge low-lying areas

HYDERABAD:

The Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has contended that a large number of low-lying areas in Hyderabad, where flash flood cut a swathe through the city on July 14, accompanied by the power outages during the downpour 'worsened' the situation.

Talking to the media in Hyderabad on Thursday after visiting the rain affected roads and localities, the CM said Hyderabad Electric Supply Company was asked before the rainfall to maintain power supply so that drainage pumping stations could work uninterrupted.

The request, however, could not be entertained as the company claimed that 18 of its grid stations were shut down due to falling of the transmission poles. CM Shah acknowledged that some areas in the city are still under rainwater but he assured that drainage efforts are afoot.

Responding to criticism of MQM-P over performance of the provincial government during rains, the CM alluded that the party was itself responsible for deterioration of Hyderabad's urban infrastructure when it was in power. He recalled visiting Latifabad in a boat during the 2005 flash flood when the city had MQM-P's Nazim.

Commissioner Bilal Ahmed Memon and Deputy Commissioner Zainul Abedin Memon in their briefing claimed that the city was struck by a cloud burst as City taluka received 107 millimetre torrential shower in an one hour followed by 91 mm in Latifabad and 55 mm in Qasimabad.

Roads

The CM assured that the Rs3.2 billion Autobahn road project's phases I and II will be completed by the end of July.

During his visit to the under-construction Abdul Sattar Edhi Flyover, he was briefed about a new road project being executed on either sides of the Pinyari Canal.

SPSC

The CM inaugurated the newly established Computer-Based Testing (CBT) Lab at the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC). He was briefed that the lab is equipped with 500 tablets with a per day testing capacity of 2,000 candidates. The commission claimed that it is going to be the first institution in the province to implement computer-based testing.