Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah. PHOTO: EXPRESS/ FILE
The chief minister also suspended Director Municipal Services Masood Alam from his post.
The number of deaths due to the rain is expected to rise, as three children have already lost lives in separate incidents of roof collapse and electrocution.
Many areas, such as Landhi, Korangi and Liaqatabad are still without electricity and it is expected that some time will be taken before things can return to normal.
The CM has taken a notice of the situation in Karachi and relief work in parts of the city is expected to begin soon.
Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui had declared an emergency in the city following flooding on roads caused by a spell of monsoon rain.
COMMENTS (50)
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@Omer: I asked my Uncle civil engineer and according to him this argument is absurd as Pumping stations are constructed near Interstate Highways not in the cities, and in cities they use culverts. while the under passes were being constructed they used round culverts which were of low capacity and quality to save time and money and Karachi will keep suffering because we found an "anokha ladla" for mayor.
@masood: First of all you need to correct yourself I live in both Lyari and Shara E Faisal. I did not mention any specific area but since you want to make it a "us v/s them" situation please enlighten me why is it that the most badly affected areas are those where MQM has claimed to done "miracles"???. As far as you claim on Mustafa Kamal and Nisar Khoro is concerned this is entirely rubbish! Mustafa Kamal wanted to build new nalas specifically in those areas where PPP had support in the guise of "development" Nisar Khoro had suggested an alternate plan which would have an impact on MQM stron holds and he made a huge fuss as how "Karanchi" was being targeted by "The Big Bad Feudal Lords of Interior Sindh". Since you live near Shara E faisal I suggest you visit Mahmood Abad 6 Number and see a nala there and tell me why is it that no one ever talks about encroachment in mqm controlled areas where as in the name of encroachment Baloch and Sindhi families living in Kulachi for 100's of years are targetted with out even proper documentation.
Mr. Ali Baloch... You need to correct your self.. If you just come to Shah rahe Faisal all the encroachments were done by CAA, Cantonment board Faisal ... these are the one who make their building on sewage lines.... Mr. Chief minister is blindly believing the KMC...He and his team should have guds to visit all the areas .. this issue was raised by Mustafa Kamal to CM that the encroachments near gujjar and others Nalas should be removed buut our bleoved CM and and that time speaker khoro condmen that i will not let happen remove this Katachi abbadis around NALAS.
the ex minister should be made accountable...and the present minster should be removed..both are involved in corruption and land grabbing
The theatrics of the local bodies minister and the chiehpf minister should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve. Once again it is proven that Karachi's issues are more municipal thsn erhnic ir sectarian. A well run snd empowered local government would have planned for, preempted and/or dealt with the situation in an organized, effective manner rather than taking a guarded tour of the safe areas and expressing insincere indignation at the conditions resulting out of the rains. Once again, it is for mqm to revert to its core goal of addressing sindh urban's issues of which fully empowered local government is the key.
@Danish Kazi: Kazi Sahib, I am sure Kamal Sahib is in Karachi, why not ask him to come and help? As a Punjabi, I would have gone and knocked his door to make him come and join me in helping Karachi.
@Shaani: Shaani Bhai, no one douted that Sindh has wonderful history and its people have done miracles.However Sindh also have now highly educated Sindhi sons too. Why not one of them than IMORTALS? Hugs and respect to you my brother.
People of Karachi should be very alert the corruption party government may ask its liyari gang force to accelerate looting of the people of Karachi before they are totally annihilated by rains and floods
Floods Again They Come, Flood's Again, Who is at Fault, The present Government, No, It is not Because of One worst Government, it is because of worst society failure to Understand, Plan ,Develop, Monitor ,. Develope & enforce appropiate Rules Regulations that requires All Civil Construction Activity Keeping in Respective the Area Geology, Surface Hydro geology, if you take a look over older maps of Karachi & adjoining areas you will notice hundreds of Rain water fed Streams & rivers criss crossing there way from hinterland towards there final destination Sea, all these rivers & rain water streams have been either level'd to make plots or encroached upon . Little is left what was once a water shed , now being an arid zone flash floods occur over a period say 5-10 years time line , with absence of monitoring data and unabated civil constructions like signal free corridors, fly overs & bridges the planners & designers did not address the surface hydro geology , resulting in blocking the natural rain water flood path resulting in inundation of localities falling in water flood paths, take for example. the Abu Hassan Isphani road Memon Bara market& adjoining area are buit upon rain streams/ drain nullah , this has blocked the down ward swift flood water movement into liyari River ,Which t self has been distrubed by Free Way Construction not taking into account adjoing stream connectivity to amin river layari , Sso water will flood streets & home now this example is visible in many other areas of Karachi. , It is our Own Making , respect the environment , all Civil construction must be environment friendly & sustainable.
@Shaani: Qaim Ali Shah is 25 years older than Imran Khan
He has found an escape goat. He should step down and resign instead. The flooding is imminent. Requires storm water drains mega project which will take years to complete. Does Karachi has an emergency rescue team like Lahore.It was done by Chaudreys though corrupt but they did introduce something good which remains operative in Emergency operations throughout the year.
@Zaidi: They keep the Depts open to .... us.
@SpeakTruth: As you said "Pakistan doesnt not end in Karachi Sindh" Now lets talk about some fact and figures: - Karachi is referred as the financial capital of Pakistan; it accounts for a lion's share of Pakistan's revenue generation. It generates approximately 53.38% of the total collections of the FBR. - Karachi produces about 56 percent of value added in large scale manufacturing and 50.23% of the GDP of Pakistan. - KSE is well into its fourth year of being one of the Best Performing Markets of the world as declared by the international magazine Business Week. Similarly, the US newspaper USA Today termed Karachi Stock Exchange as one of the best performing bourses in the world.
DO YOU STILL THINK PAKISTAN DOES NOT END IN KARACHI!!!!! grow up and accept the facts...
@SpeakTruth: i guess you do not know any thing about construction of underpasses. Its not about poor quality or planning. With every underpass in Karachi a pump station is there which is used to pump out water in monsoon season. But as there is no local govt from past few years all these stations are closed. Don't talk senselessly. Just talk about those things which you know.
Q.A.S. What good is it now?
@shah: This kind of post wont get u good IQ too. Natural disaster can happen anywhere. And MQM was also in power for last many years. What did they do improve the situation in Karachi, if MK constructed under passes, check their quality, they look like ponds, where was his planning to get them connected with drainage system? Karachi is capital of Sindh, and who ever has majority in Sindh Assembly has democratic, constitutional and legal right to rule. If any one has problem with Sindh, Pakistan doesnt not end in Karachi Sindh. They are most welcome to go any where they like.
Karachi is a orphan city now.No local government and affairs are controlled by those who do not know city dynamics, mostly hailing from villages with much low IQ and no orientation to city affairs.The only solution to problem is local government.
"Karachi administrator removed" Is it solve problem in future never. Why we set the rule when something happen remove some persons related to that.But no action plan, no care about root cause. Same as Jail break case in DI khan. I think almost all Govt institutions are destroyed. All hiring are on political basis . Nothing on merit. But no one cares.
@Danish Kazi: Brother, His poor planning and construction quality of work is self explanatory, all under passes looks like ponds. What we experience now a kind of flooding, it is outcome of poor planning and infrastructure used during his days of mayorship. Secondly MQM is in opposition for last few months. Before, They were in power over decade, what did they do? If PPP did not let them perform, why on earth they support that Govt?
It indicates proper planning and construction material used in Karachi. If former mayor has done proper planning, followed due construction process with credible contractors, these underpasses wont have been looking like ponds. Secondly, MQM has been in power over decade, and they also shared Govt with PPP. They cant blame PPP alone for poor infrastructure, they should also share the burden of failure.
MQM's Mustafa Kamal is severely missed now. In Bath Island in 2005 he was shoulder to shoulder opening sewage lines with me. Consolidating to see him on our side.
Old story of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.
In Pakistan "taking notice" is a nicer way of saying they were sleeping earlier:)
@Zaidi: What else is army's job? They are failing to do their primary duties. This time lets test them with something easier.
CM should also go. For the past 5 years with their government what did they show to imrove the infrastructure. They gobbled all the funds alloted to repair and cleanup. So this was bound to happen.
Good Move from Chief Minister. The Officers responsible should at least be removed from their position. Well Done. It makes the coming ones to be vigilant.
The suspended officer will probably pay the right price to get him self even better placed.
@Shahid Kinnare: He would be getting the salary though, but at-least the money-making machine would be in rest for sometime and he would be unable to enjoy all the powers through that post the main source of money-making would be stopped too. Hope i answered the question.
**> Rain in Karachi: Army called in for
Pity the Nation where Army is being called to overhaul the sewerage system just because our departments can not handle just a few couple of minutes heavy rain. Then why not just eradicate all KMC, KDA, MDA, LDA and these blah blah departments where billions n trillions are being spend from tax payers money. What purpose they are for? anybody please let me know.
what happen to the person who is suspended? He does not get paid I literally what happen to his career? Any one please.
Very good stand by Qaim Ali Shah, the administration of Karachi was far taller then uncle Zaidi's credentials, he should be given some rest now as he has already earned a lot to stay safer from rain water and emergencies.
Looks like Qaim Ali Shah went straight from the dead to Vapmire mode. Good to know that he is taking the administrators to task! Keep it up.
These all steps are just to show that some work is in progress but why there wasn't and nulla cleaning campaign started 15 days before the monsoon and there wasn't any emergency planning as it was in mustafa kamal tenure. I miss you mr kamal.
MQM had been feeding us that under its local government karachi turned into a model city.
@Sodomite: Haters gonna hate no matter what. Correct step Mr. Chief Minister. Bureaucracy was supposed to run the affairs of the state. But apparently it stopped functioning a long time ago. The government has to give it a few jolts.
So what was done in the slum areas of Landhi, Korangi and Liaquatabad (and many more) under the local MQM administration for last so many years? These were the areas that needed direct attention not the areas that already had proper/ planned roads etc.
'Allah rahim kar humari kaum per'
CM Qaim Ali Shah, you are the ablest, most experienced, articulate, knowledgeable and bravest of all the CMs Pakistan has ever seen in its history. You're a one man army Sir, we must salute you Sir for your benevolance, hardwork and generosity. May Allah convert the rain into special blessings, and shower them all on our hero, that's you Sir. Believe me Sir, it is you and no one else.
While swift action by the Chief Minister holding the administrators accountable for mishaps and failure to prevent breakdowns and chaos is noteworthy and laudable, if hopefully it is not a vengeful action to get rid of honest civil servants a la Ms. Durga Shakti Nagpal in UP, India recently by Mulayam Singh government. Media needs to check into this and let the public know the background of this action by Sindh's Chief Minister. The unplanned growth of Karachi over the last several decades because of corrupt officials is sure to result in the breakdown of the infrastructure causing power disruptions and floods during the monsoon rain season. It surely cannot be blamed on administrators recently appointed.
Its becoming habit of taking "Notice" of someone's failure and forgetting the fact their own incompetency of running a government or taking responsibility. Expecting any things good for this chap will be the biggest mistake again.
Please take concrete actions in this regard.
CM has all the powers to remove Adminstrator Karachi, but who has the powers to remove CM Syed Qaim Ali Shah, as CM also failed to call for a meeting with Aministrator Karachi, Police, Rangers and CEO of KESC to oversee and discussed the post rain situation in Karachi.
Shouldn't CM Sindh take notice of his own performance first? Quite honestly, he is the most incompetent chief minister Sindh has ever seen. At his age, he should just retire and live with what little dignity he has left.
I admire Qaim Ali Sahib, Egyptian Pyramids, and our very own Mohanjodero they all are IMMORTALS.
It's a total disaster of administration.
Wow Sindh have a Chief Minister as well. Anyway wait till the next raining season next year as I am sure he will again Hibernate in his nest after this statement
Firing people, like the Administrator does not solve the problem. Karachi has structural problems that have not been resolved. You Mr. CM are part of the problem as you have been running the province for past 5 years and have failed completely. If anyone is to be fired it should be you.
Finally Mr Qaim Ali Shah starts following the footsteps of Mr Shahbaz Sharif in implementing discipline and improving the efficiency of the dwindling beauraucracy!