Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said on Thursday that storm drain had been cleared in advance and credited his party’s provincial goVenrment for his handling of the monsoon rains.
He turned to a press conference in Karachi and accused certain media houses of running a pre-planned campaign against Pakistan Peoples Party-led Sindh government while referring to a report published in Dawn Avis The recognized improved drainage.
Memon said storm drain had been cleared in advance and heavy machinery was inserted for drainage. But lapses could have taken place, he admitted.
Previously, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab had said that the city was dealing with a record bar of over 200 mm, while its drainage system has only one capacity of 40 mm.
“Citizens were facing difficulties, and for that we apologize,” he noted, adding that Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had personally monitored relief efforts.
The press conference began with beans for journalist Khawar Hussain, who was found shot in Sanghar earlier this month.
Read: Power cuts persist when Karachi Gears for more rain
Pakistan is still one of the lowest contributors to global emissions, but carries brown with climate change, said Memon, who repeats Wahab’s comments yesterday, which attributes the collapse of the city’s road network to detect rainfall.
Manghopir recorded 246 millimeters of rain and choral 140 millimeters, Memon claimed.
He referred to death and destruction from Monsun rain in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where the toll stands over 445 killed, Punjab, who recorded 165 deaths along with 40 deaths in Sindh, 23 in Balochistan and eight in Islamabad.
Even colder countries are now experiencing temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius, Memon said.
He credited the provincial government to be the hands of his approach with senior officials, including chief minister and local authorities on the ground during the rain.
In a remote flooding, Memon said that the United Nations Secretary-General had once expressed an alarm over the drainage mechanism in the city and claimed that Pakistan Peoples Party-led Sindh government had managed to solve this challenge.
In response to criticism from Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) accused MEMON MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar of trying to politicize the question. Memon added that he had no objection to sitting with Sattar and asked why if the MQM-P leader was so worried, he would have Boikoted local government elections.
