KARACHI, 19 August 2006 — Heavy rains in Karachi claimed 26 lives including four at I.I. Chundrigar Road alone and the rest in other areas — all due to electrocution. The rains that hit the city continued unabated, badly disrupting city life. All city roads were inundated under knee- to ankle- deep water with low-lying areas being the most affected where rainwater entered many houses.
The rains badly affected the power supply and telecommunication systems and so was the mobile telephone system. People were making frantic calls to their homes but in vain — only to hear the recorded voice that the network was busy. Office-goers leaving for their homes, were trapped in heavy rains which caused severe traffic jams as many vehicles were stuck in the middle of roads blocking traffic movement.
Traffic jams were reported almost in all parts of the city and people found it more convenient to get down from buses, coaches and other means of transportation to reach their homes on foot. Those who left their offices on Thursday at 5 p.m. reached home at 4 a.m. in the morning yesterday.
The rains exposed the futility of the concerned government department. Military police was called up to control the relief work in the city.
The government has announced holidays in educational institutions and offices were mostly shut in Karachi and Hyderabad.
Almost all roads and streets in Defense and Clifton areas were flooded and the emergency centers of the Clifton Cantonment Board (CCB) and Defense Housing Authority (DHA) failed to combat the situation.
According to residents of Phase II Extension, all three open stormwater drains in the area overflowed and water entered houses. Commercial Area 21 was flooded and water above two feet had accumulated on the roads. “There is no proper arrangement to pump rainwater from open drains,” an official said. The only covered storm water drain located at commercial area 11, Phase II Extension, was also overflowing.
It was reported that Khayaban-e-Jami, connecting Phase VII and Phase II, was blocked with water. Traffic was forced to stop on the road and residents had to abandon their vehicles and walk to their houses. Most of the roads and streets of Phase IV and Phase V were inundated. Not a single pumping station was working properly in these areas.
A majority of the areas of Defense and Clifton went without electricity as soon as the rains started. “The situation was controlled by the CCB. About 12 pumping stations are working properly in all affected areas of Defense and Clifton,” said Clifton Cantonment Board officials.
