CM ventures out as rain floods city: 'Karachi is not what it used to be'

KARACHI: Numerous roads of the metropolis flooded and several areas were without electricity as monsoon showers hit the city for second consecutive day on Saturday.

The spell that continued from a day earlier turned into heavy showers Saturday morning, and soon exposed the city’s vulnerable infrastructure.

Sindh's newly elected Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah visited some flooded areas of the city personally, and ordered authorities to take immediate steps to free roads of rainwater.

Meanwhile, a section of the city's residents were left wondering if they could make it to work, and many opted to not take the risk as all major thoroughfares were submerged in rainwater.

A Karachi road flooded with rainwater on Saturday.— Photo courtesy: Facebook

Sharea Faisal, M.A. Jinnah Road, I.I. Chundrigar Road, Saddar, Bilawal Chowrangi, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, DHA, Karsaz, University Road, Gulistan-i-Jauhar and Bath Island are some of the flooded areas.

Some 400 feeders of K-Electric (KE) tripped due to the rain, leaving most of the metropolis in dark, DawnNews reported. Although most of the feeders were stored, some areas remain without electricity as KE teams work to restore the remaining feeders.

Areas still without power include Garden, Clifton, Saddar, pockets of DHA, Lyari, Gizri, North Nazimabad, Liaquatabad and Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

A KE representative declined to provide Dawn.com a time by which electricity was expected to be restored in the entire city.

On Friday, the city underwent a similar situation as two men died due to electrocution, which has become a regular feature after rain spells here.

The Met Office earlier described the fresh spell as a “moderate to heavy rainfall” and said that the trend was likely to continue for at least for 24 hours.

'Karachi is not the same anymore'

CM Murad Ali Shah on a city visit during rain.— DawnNews

Sipping tea and munching onparathas at a roadside tea stall in Saddar, CM Murad lamented the picture Karachi's roads presented after the rain spell.

"I could see today what we have done to this city in the past years," he said, regretting that despite constructing underpasses and overhead bridges, a proper drainage system was not built.

"Karachi is called the city of lights... unfortunately it is not the same now," he said, as a large part of the city suffered without electricity.

The CM said he hoped he would be able to "return the lights" to Karachi but asked for resident's support to accomplish this task.