KARACHI: Mayor Karachi, Wasim Akhtar, has said that the SOPs made for more rains in the city, the services of a pool of KMC officials who are awaiting postings presently can be utilized for rain emergency in any part of the city.

He was addressing a media briefing at his office on Friday after chairing a meeting of KMC officials and DMC chairman, said a statement.

Besides full coordination with district administration, K-Electric and KWSB have also been taken on board to deal with any untoward situation during monsoon rains, he said.

This would bring improvement in the city if we all work together for the betterment of our city, he added.

Waseem Akhter has said that we are doing our best to save the citizens from any inconvenience during further rains in Karachi. Cleaning of storm water drains was underway and all choking points being focused to ensure drainage of rain water without any hurdle, he added.

Chairman DMC Central, Rehan Hashmi; DMC East Chairman, Moeed Anwer; DMC Malir Chairman, Jan Mohammad Baloch; DMC South Chairman, Malik Fayyaz; DMC West administrator, Ghulam Fareed; DMC Korangi vice Chairman, Syed Ahmer Ali; former town nazim, Izhar Ahmed Khan; parliamentary leader in city council, Aslam Shah Afridi; and others were also present.

Finance committee chairman, Nadeem Hidayat Hashmi; land committee chairman, Arshad Hasan; financial advisor, Khalid Mehmood; senior director of municipal services, Masood Alam; director general engineering, Shahab Anwer and other officers of KMC and DMCs also attended the meeting.

The Mayor said the slumps in under passes were also being cleared and so far we have completed work in the Nazimabad Underpass and have started work in Liaquatabad and Gharibabad underpass and this will also be done soon.

Referring to the condition of city drains, he said dumping of garbage was main cause of their chocking whereas city sewage was also being drained out through these channels which made the situation even more complicated.

He said that all our interest is for the betterment of the city.

The district administration too has same views and we all are coordinating to bring improvement in city’s drains.

He urged the KWSB and K-Electric to play their role and take immediate measures to save the people from difficulty or casualty during further rains in the city.

He said the traffic police should also be on roads during rains to control the traffic flow.

The Mayor said the patchwork of roads was for the time being due to monsoon rains and this would resume after it.

Earlier, while chairing a meeting of the KMC and district administration in his office, Mayor Karachi announced to make finance committee chairman, Nadeem Hidayat Hashmi, as focal person during monsoon rains to coordinate with district administration and other utility service providers.

He said that we need to ensure availability of more machinery and pumps to drain out all rain water and the district administrations can contact KMC for any requirements.—APP