A high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan to discuss the situation in the aftermath of rains in Karachi was attended by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Faiz Hameed and Karachi Corps Commander Lt Gen Humayun Aziz among other bigwigs.
During the meeting, the premier was given a detailed briefing on the devastation caused by record rainfall in the port city. The PM assured that the federal government was willing to help the city administration in addressing the widespread loss due to recent rains.
The PM was also given a detailed briefing on the Karachi Transformation Plan.
The meeting was also attended by representatives of both the provincial and federal governments, including Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, DG ISI Lt Gen Faiz Hameed and Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Humayun Aziz. Federal Ministers Shibli Faraz, Asad Umar, Syed Ali Zaidi, Amin ul Haq, Provincial Ministers Saeed Ghani, Nasir Shah and other senior officials also attended the meeting.
On Saturday, the premier announced a Rs1.1 trillion financial package for the transformation of the port city. He said the package formulated after the financial contributions from the federal and provincial governments would address the chronic municipal and infrastructure issues of the country's financial hub.
In a press conference addressed alongside Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah, the PM said the provincial government and the federal government would work 'together' to fix the issues faced by the metropolitan.
"I would have come [to Karachi] sooner but we had to make a structure," he was quoted by Dawn, revealing that the transformation plan would be implemented through the Provincial Coordination Implementation Committee (PCIC) under the chief minister.
Amid a monsoon spell in the last week of August, Karachi recorded over 345mm of rainfall in August, breaking the previous rainfall record of 1931. According to Met Office, downpour recorded in Karachi’s PAF Faisal Base surpassed the amount of rainfall previously recorded up to 298.4 decades ago.
According to data, the highest amount of rainfall, 72 millimetres, was recorded at Gulshan-e-Hadeed while Nazimabad recorded 51.6mm, North Karachi 37mm, Surjani Town 25.6mm, Landhi 11.5mm, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Base Faisal 11mm, Jinnah Terminal 9.6mm while University Road received 8.8mm of rainfall.
Last week, the residents of the Karachi Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and Clifton resorted to an hours-long demonstration outside the office of the CBC [Canttonment Board Clifton], demanding the removal of top CBC and DHA officials over their failure to drain rainwater from the locality.
The protesters had also demanded dewatering within the next three days; restoration of power and gas supplies to all phases within 24 hours; reconstruction of infrastructure in 30 days; construction of water drains in 30 days; accountability of officials with a forensic audit of DHA and CBC accounts; and mosquito spray in all phases.
The protesters later claimed that they were also threatened by unknown people for holding the demonstration. They said the threats were being used to intimidate the protesters into backing down. It said they were being told not to organise anymore demonstration, saying the number of protesters after these calls have also dwindled.
During the meeting, the premier was given a detailed briefing on the devastation caused by record rainfall in the port city. The PM assured that the federal government was willing to help the city administration in addressing the widespread loss due to recent rains.
The PM was also given a detailed briefing on the Karachi Transformation Plan.
The meeting was also attended by representatives of both the provincial and federal governments, including Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, DG ISI Lt Gen Faiz Hameed and Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Humayun Aziz. Federal Ministers Shibli Faraz, Asad Umar, Syed Ali Zaidi, Amin ul Haq, Provincial Ministers Saeed Ghani, Nasir Shah and other senior officials also attended the meeting.
Rs1.1 package for Karachi:
On Saturday, the premier announced a Rs1.1 trillion financial package for the transformation of the port city. He said the package formulated after the financial contributions from the federal and provincial governments would address the chronic municipal and infrastructure issues of the country's financial hub.
In a press conference addressed alongside Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah, the PM said the provincial government and the federal government would work 'together' to fix the issues faced by the metropolitan.
"I would have come [to Karachi] sooner but we had to make a structure," he was quoted by Dawn, revealing that the transformation plan would be implemented through the Provincial Coordination Implementation Committee (PCIC) under the chief minister.
Urban flooding in Karachi:
Amid a monsoon spell in the last week of August, Karachi recorded over 345mm of rainfall in August, breaking the previous rainfall record of 1931. According to Met Office, downpour recorded in Karachi’s PAF Faisal Base surpassed the amount of rainfall previously recorded up to 298.4 decades ago.
According to data, the highest amount of rainfall, 72 millimetres, was recorded at Gulshan-e-Hadeed while Nazimabad recorded 51.6mm, North Karachi 37mm, Surjani Town 25.6mm, Landhi 11.5mm, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Base Faisal 11mm, Jinnah Terminal 9.6mm while University Road received 8.8mm of rainfall.
Protests against DHA admin:
Last week, the residents of the Karachi Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and Clifton resorted to an hours-long demonstration outside the office of the CBC [Canttonment Board Clifton], demanding the removal of top CBC and DHA officials over their failure to drain rainwater from the locality.
The protesters had also demanded dewatering within the next three days; restoration of power and gas supplies to all phases within 24 hours; reconstruction of infrastructure in 30 days; construction of water drains in 30 days; accountability of officials with a forensic audit of DHA and CBC accounts; and mosquito spray in all phases.
The protesters later claimed that they were also threatened by unknown people for holding the demonstration. They said the threats were being used to intimidate the protesters into backing down. It said they were being told not to organise anymore demonstration, saying the number of protesters after these calls have also dwindled.