Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has expressed his satisfaction on measures that the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) has taken pertaining to mitigating the impact of the recent spell of monsoon in the city. The chief minister went on a visit around the city, accompanied by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad and City Nazim Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday midnight, to oversee the post-rain situation.
While visiting the Gujjar Nullah, the city nazim told the chief minister about the problems that have resulted from encroachments on the brinks of the nullah. Kamal said, these encroachments have squeezed the diametre of the nullah from 77 metres to just seven metres.
Shah said that he would hold a meeting with Ibad and Kamal so that an appropriate strategy can be devised to tackle the situation while support from the federal government would also be sought for the resolution of this anomaly.
Shah also visited the CDGK Command and Control Centre and saw the city’s situation using close circuit cameras.
On the other hand, Kamal expressed his satisfaction on the rain emergency measures, of which draining the storm water was a key issue. Kamal said that illegal occupation of land across the main drain canals, including Gujjar Nullah, have created problems that led to delayed draining of the storm water. The eviction of the encroachments from the brinks of the nullah would ensure the increase of Gujjar Nullah’s diameter and would pacify the agony that prevails after torrential rain.
Kamal said that the newly installed water and sewerage infrastructure has a capacity, just like every other drainage system of the world, but it proved to be highly beneficial for the citizens, as despite the heavy, prolonged rains, the water was drained effectively.
He refuted certain news items that claimed that the CDGK’s infrastructure had been ruined, as he claimed that the CDGK had used only a faction of its machineries because the storm water was drained out through the infrastructure.
He reiterated his resolve that he would leave no stone unturned to restore the Gujjar Nullah to its original diametre and that all encroachments would be removed. No matter how many voters and supporters of Muttahidda Qaumi Movement would be affected but the task would be completed for the sake of the city, he added.
The city nazim said that the CDGK has been doing the required homework while two relevant town municipal administrations have already completed their work on delineating the encroachments for immediate removal.
