.:: SAMAA - Protests break out over power supplies

- City's 30-yr rain record broken

Staff Report

KARACHI: Violent protests broke out in the Gharibabad neighbourhood Monday and other parts of Karachi where people had gone without electricity for over 36 hours after the first monsoon rains hit.

A 30-year record was broken Saturday night when over 200mm of rain fell in a thunderstorm. Power and water supplies collapsed and homes in slums were flooded. Passengers from Karachi were stuck at the Karachi Cantonment Station for hours and many of them were still waiting by Monday to make their journey.

KESC UPDATE

There was finally some good news for Pakistan's largest city Monday afternoon, when the CEO of the company that supplies it electricity said that they had made progress.

KESC CEO Naveed Ismail said power generation was not a problem; the distribution system had suffered during the rains Saturday that broke a 30-year record. However, the main pumping station at Dhabeji has started working and water supplies to Karachi will resume soon.

The Karachi Water and Sewage Board (KWSB) had earlier said that it would not be able to supply Karachi water for three days because Dhabeji was down. Transformers were damaged in the thunderstorm but the repair work was underway.

KESC claimed that power supplies were restored to 60% of the city. Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf claimed that power had been restored to 90 percent of Karachi but KESC said it could not verify this claim.

Protests broke out in Gharibabad over the water and power shortages and residents set tires ablaze and attacked passing vehicles in anger.

Other parts still without electricity Monday morning included DHA Phase V, Garden, Baldia Town, Malir, Shah Faisal, Azam Basti and Nazimabad. Power generators began to give way because of overuse.

Balochistan's district Lasbela has not had electricity for three days either.

DAMAGES TO MARKETS

In Liaquat Market, Kharadar, Hyderi and Saddar, among Karachi’s biggest markets, billions of rupees worth of goods have been destroyed as rainwater flooded shops and accumulated for lack of drainage.

In Urdu Bazaar, an area which houses about 300 shops, accumulated rainwater drenched and destroyed millions of rupees worth of books.

“Had the authorities done something to provide drainage, the damage could have been curtailed,” said shopkeeper Mohammad Ahmed. The shopkeepers said they have received no help from the authorities and have had to pump water out of their shops themselves.

Federal Minister for Privatisation Syed Naveed Qamar has said that NEPRA has the right to take control of KESC once again.

YOU CAN'T FIGHT NATURE

You can't fight God, exclaimed the mayor of Pakistan's biggest city, Mustafa Kamal, Sunday after a 30-year rainfall record was broken Saturday night in Karachi. In 1977 207mm fell in the city, on Saturday 235mm.

Kamal was speaking to SAMAA Sunday afternoon. He said that his entire team was out there but he would never have enough people to cover every square inch of Karachi that has a population of 18 million people. "This was extraordinary rain," he said, adding that no amount of planning could have prepared the city for this thunderstorm.

Kamal and his city government have been working over the last few years to revamp Karachi's outdated drainage system. And the situation had improved in many parts so much so that people had the confidence to venture out early Saturday to enjoy the showers. In previous years people stayed at home, he pointed out while speaking to SAMAA.

But this time there was so much rain that the drainage system itself got flooded. People tried to help rainwater run off by taking off the covers of manholes but these invisible gutters just became hazards for unsuspecting people.

"Please call 1339 for any emergencies," Kamal said, "I will dispatch people."

At least 26 people died when roofs caved in and electricity wires fell. People were stranded across the city in the knee-deep water and many had to abandon their cars and seek shelter in hotels or with friends.

The city government's EDO Works and Services Masood Alam said that they had 1,000 men on the streets draining the water. "They are working on Shahra-e Faisal, at Time Medico, the underpasses, North Nazimabad," he said while talking to SAMAA Sunday morning.

As the downpour started power supplies went out. KESC spokesperson Ayesha Airabie told SAMAA Sunday morning that the problem was with a 500KV link at Multan that had been broken. "Karachi is connected to the national grid," she said. "That is why southern Punjab and Sindh were disconnected. We still need a few KV to kickstart our own generation units, which we didn't have."

At least 40 people were injured as well in the heavy rain that started at 9:15 pm.

Zahir Shah and Bakhtiar died in Ittehad Town when their roof collapsed. Six-year-old Zulekhan and her mother died and Khaliq-uz Zaman died in Orangi Town. Asif, 10, fell down a drain in Hawkesbay. And at least 12 people, including five children, were injured when the wall of a house fell.

A couple and their two children were similarly hurt in Shanti Nagar. Three children were injured in Dawood Goth.

A father and son were electrocuted in Shireen Jinnah Colony and another man died in Korangi.

MONSOON STARTS

Thunder showers hit Sindh and Hyderabad city received the most rain, 111mm, Saturday as the monsoon rains started.

Rawalpindi, Jhelum and Sialkot received the least recorded rain: 14mm.

Thundershowers are likely in scattered parts of Kashmir, Punjab, upper NWFP, and in isolated parts of northeast Balochistan, Makran and Karachi divisions, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said.

The department has estimated that Pakistan will receive 30 percent less monsoon rains this year.

The rains arrived Friday afternoon in southern Pakistan and by mid-morning Saturday 6mm were recorded for Karachi, said Met Office Director-General Dr Qamar-uz Zaman Chaudhry while speaking to SAMAA TV.

The World Meteorological Organization issued an advisory about the development of the El Niño phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean. “In Pakistan’s context El Niño generally suppresses the monsoon rainfall,” said the Met. Office in its advisory.

The shortage of monsoon rains has the potential to affect agriculture and water resources, the Met. Office said.

El Niño has developed very rapidly in June 2009 and is likely to further strengthen in coming months and is likely to continue till next winter.

Many countries around the globe, including India, have revised their seasonal weather forecast.

Hyderabad received 85mm and Islamabad 17mm. More rains are forecast for the next 24 hours across the country. SAMAA