Karachi braces for another rain system as NDMA eyes maximum relief

ISLAMABAD: National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal on Sunday said there are chances of another spell of rain in the city from 7 to 9 August, ARY NEWS reported.

Addressing a media briefing in Islamabad, he said that six days of August are important for Karachi as there is a prediction of rainfall in the city from 7 to 9 August and then a weak system would remain in the city, which would cause little drizzle from time to time in the metropolis till August 15.

There are fewer chances of rainfall in the city after that, said the NDMA chairman.

He said that 83 mm rain was recorded in Karachi during one hour in a day previously after which the Prime Minister directed him to reach the city to carry out relief activities.

The water was, however, drained out when I reached Karachi, Muhammad Afzal said.

“Karachi issues could only be solved after realizing the issues faced by the city,” he said and added that 20,000 tonnes of garbage was generated in the city but there is no mechanism to dispose-off.

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He said that NDMA is being tasked to clear encroached nullahs in the city and asked the federal and the provincial authorities to sit together to resolve the city’s long-standing issues as temporary measures would only subside them rather than solving them permanently.

Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal said that the NDMA has launched the cleanliness drive in the city and would take measures to minimize the effects from rainfall as compared to the past.