ISLAMABAD, Aug 1 (APP): Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman on Monday said building resilience in Karachi should be the prime focus of the government as the city had witnessed the worst of disasters during the three monsoon spells.
The minister accompanied by the Prime Minister’s Needs Assessment Committee, visited various areas affected by urban flooding in Karachi following the monsoon spells in July.
After a presentation at the Office of the Commissioner Karachi division, that discussed an overall summary of the rainfall, the issues at hand and relief measures taken, Minister Rehman expressed that the city was brought close to a breaking point and unfortunately, we will see more rainfall during August.
Karachi recorded a historic 600+ mm of overall rainfall, it takes much less than that for urban flooding to happen. What we are experiencing in Karachi is another unprecedented climate change event.”
Speaking to the media, during the visit of the federal ministers and advisors, to Karachi division to assess the damages caused by the unprecedented monsoon rains all over the country, Minister Rehman stressed.
“Karachi is the largest tax-paying city in Pakistan. Safety and protection of all citizens in Karachi is the responsibility of all institutions and it is their right to question the institutions. We will conduct a short-term, medium and long-term needs assessment and it is our recommendation that people should be compensated for the loss to their houses and property.
We need to come together and cooperate with each other during this difficult time and not indulge in turf wars. The whole world is going through the devastating impacts of climate change causing heatwaves and forest fires in countries like the US.
We experienced the same or perhaps 10 degree worse all over Pakistan and in Sindh. This is why events like urban and flash flooding are more intense here. All of us present here are from different parties and our objective is to stabilize Karachi and provide assistance to those in need”, she said.
The minister is leading the Committee designated by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to augment effective coordination for relief efforts in flood-hit areas in all provinces.
She was accompanied , Syed Amin ul Haq, Federal Minister for Information Technology & Telecommunication, MNAs Mir Amir Ali Khan Magsi, Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, and Kesoo Mal Kheel Das Kohistani. The committee will also be conducting assessments in the flood-hit areas in interior Sindh.
