KARACHI: While parts of Karachi remained submerged and without electricity an agonising five days after torrential rains wreaked havoc on the metropolis, the residents of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and Clifton gathered outside the Clifton Cantonment Board (CBC) office to protest against the post-rain situation in the two localities.
About 100 protesters demanded that the drainage system in the areas be improved and roads to be repaired and made from scratch. They also demanded an audit of funds collected in the name of flood relief and called for the board to ensure clean-up work.
Many also took to social media to vent their frustration about the power outages which have lasted more than 90 hours in some parts of the metropolis.
Meanwhile, Sindh government spokesperson Barrister Murtaza Wahab said that the provincial government had placed its machines at Khayaban-e-Muhafiz and Khayaban-e-Shujaat neighbourhoods to drain out the rainwater from DHA’s Bukhari Commercial.
“We are facing difficulties with the drains at DHA but are trying our best,” he said. In a separate statement, he added that the Sindh government had deployed more machines to help drain the rainwater in DHA.
In a statement, K-Electric said its field teams and operational staff were working round the clock to restore power to areas still plagued by waterlogging and drainage issues.
“Despite hurdles and impediments to restoration work because of standing rainwater in several parts of DHA and Clifton, KE has been able to re-energise more than 95 per cent of the city.”
The power supplier added that efforts were underway to re-energise five feeders in DHA and Clifton, adding that waterlogging around substations and inside residential premises was proving to be a hurdle, creating a public safety hazard.
“These feeders serve Bukhari Commercial Area, Ittehad Commercial area, Khayaban-e-Shahbaz and parts of 26th street,” the statement said.
“KE’s field teams continue to face challenges because of waterlogging in parts of DHA Phase-VIII (Khayaban-e-Qasim, Roomi), Saba Avenue off Khayaban-e-Muhafiz till Khayaban-e-Ittehad, Bukhari Commercial, Sehar Commercial, Nishat Commercial, Ittehad Commercial, Shahbaz Commercial and Rahat Commercial.”
The power utility reiterated that they had also received “several requests” by residents to refrain from powering up feeders in the “interest of saving human lives”.
“The power utility is totally cognisant of the difficulties being faced by consumers and apologises for the extended outage and would like to highlight that power restoration efforts are entirely dependent on the drainage of water,” the statement said, adding that KE expected to restore power at a feeder level within the next six to 12 hours before proceeding to address localised faults.
PTI MPs DEMAND AUDIT OF CBC, DHA FUNDS:
Meanwhile, the members of parliament of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) demanded that the government audit funds issued to DHA and the Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC).
PTI MP Aftab Siddiqui, who was elected from Karachi’s Defence and Clifton constituencies, announced to raise his voice in the parliament against the two boards.
“Water never accumulated here for more than three days after rains,” Siddiqui said. This happened because “the drainage system of these areas is not working”, he added, noting that he would also seek help from the civil society to address these issues.
PTI MPA Shehzad Qureshi urged Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Dr Arif Alvi to take notice of the grim situation.
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