The Supreme Court on Monday expressed displeasure over power cuts in the port city and summoned the chief executive officer of K-Electric to explain his position as to load shedding. The CJP also ordered to register FIR against those responsible for electrocution deaths in Karachi.
Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, who headed a bench hearing cases at the apex court’s Karachi registry, took the city’s sole power distributor to task over prolonged load shedding and electrocution deaths.
Sindh government and local bodies are also enemies of the city, says CJP Gulzar Ahmed#GeoNews
— Geo English (@geonews_english) August 10, 2020
He remarked that eight to ten people are dying due to electrocution daily but the National Electric Power Regulator Authority (Nepra) isn’t doing anything. He said those responsible for electrocution incidents should be booked and their names put on the Exit Control List (ECL).
CJP Gulzar said an FIR of every death from electrocution be registered.
Read More: Imran Khan orders NDMA to fix rain ravaged Karachi
On July 29, the Nepra had taken “serious notice” of electrocution deaths in Karachi during recent rains in the city and invited citizens to report such incidents to the regulatory body.
چیف جسٹس کا کراچی میں لوڈ شیڈنگ پر اظہار برہمی #GNN #GNNUpdates #Karachi #CJP @MuradAliShahPPP @MediaCellPPP pic.twitter.com/sdNWs0zFtt
— GNN (@gnnhdofficial) August 10, 2020
In a statement, a spokesperson of NEPRA said that in order to ascertain the real causes behind these incidents and to fix responsibility the regulatory body has created a dedicated email address to receive evidence from the general public and affected families.
Army is cleaning Karachi?
The Pakistan Army teams have also kicked off the cleanliness campaign in Karachi to assist the civil administration in removing dirt and garbage from the city’s major storm-drains.
The army-run Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) personnel initiated cleaning operation at Gujjar Nullah in Nazimabad with over 50 dumpers, cranes and other machinery to remove the garbage, which had choked the flow of water in the drain during recent monsoon rainfall and submerged adjacent area.
As electrocution deaths in Karachi are increasing, Sindh Rangers personnel have also been deployed at the site of the drain clearance work which is led by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
The garbage from the sewerage drain being immediately transferred to the landfill site. The drain clearance work has also been started at ‘Cafe Piyala’, an area in the Federal B Area of the metropolis with heavy machinery and other equipment.
Read More: Why is no money available for improving Karachi?
After the 18th amendment, argue analyst, it was made sure that the provinces took charge of the local issues and address them accordingly. However, the Sindh government has apparently failed to devise any mechanism to deal with the crisis it faces every year during the monsoon season in Pakistan. Apart from rains, the garbage in the country’s largest city has always been a big challenge. But it remained largely unaddressed. The federal government is not doing what the Sindh government should have done long ago, argue political analysts.