Karachi, August 30, 2019: The SITE Superhighway Association of Industry – Karachi said on Tuesday that it is imperative for the stakeholders responsible for maintaining Karachi’s infrastructure to work together in addressing the city’s challenges.
SITE Superhighway Industrial area, the hub of more than 500 large and medium sizes of industrial units, most of them are export oriented. The industrial area consists of more 1800 acres of industrial land.
The statement was made during a meeting between K-Electric representatives and President of SSHAI, Raja Muhammad Ilyas along senior members of the association Danishmand Khan, Abdul Rashid, Choudhury Muhammad Riaz and others. A priority agenda item for discussion was solutions to the crisis that befell Karachi during the unprecedented heavy rain season.
KE representatives explained the various operational challenges which severely hindered the ability of operations teams to resolve complaints and faults. Issues of waterlogging and urban flooding which restricted the movement of ground teams were highlighted as a major issue. Furthermore, encroachment and unregulated urban expansion is also creating a tough operational environment for all civic agencies and utilities in Karachi.
This weakened infrastructure was further worsened by the rains in Karachi, and waterlogging and urban flooding also contributed to some unfortunate incidents. KE representatives took SSHAI into confidence that the utility was conducting a thorough internal investigation into these incidents and is also fully complying with the independent investigation being conducted by the National Electrical Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA).
It was discussed in the meeting that the extent of Karachi’s problems make it necessary for all agencies and organizations to come together and develop a joint strategy for resolution. Given the strategic and economic importance of the city, Karachi’s well-being should be everyone’s priority.
The Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC), Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (KWSB), Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), and Karachi Development Authority are only a few such institutions which manage Karachi.
There needs to be a joint strategy to address the safety hazards for the public, and SSHAI appealed to these authorities to build a common plan to tackle them. This is necessary to avoid a repeat of the tragedies that occurred during the recent rainfall.
SSHAI also appealed to the Chief Minister and Governor Sindh, the Mayor Karachi, Commissioner Karachi other relevant custodians of public well-being to take the initiative and bring all stakeholders on the table so that a comprehensive and coordinated plan could be developed in the interest of safeguarding Karachi from future crises.
