Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah presiding over a high-level rain-emergency meeting here at CM House has set outlines of his priorities under which maxim focus would be made on service delivery so that every kind of losses could be controlled. He declared divisional commissioners as focal persons where coordinate efforts among various departments, including administration, police, local bodies, PDMA, hospitals, PHE department and other concerned wings/department would work together so that no stone was unturned to provide maxim service to the people of the rain-affected areas. The meeting was told that a well-marked monsoon low pressure has formed over North Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas, likely to move westward and reach Indian Gujrat around morning of August 9, 2019. Under the influence of this system widespread rains/wind-thunderstorms with a few moderate to heavy falls may occur in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad divisions during August 9 to 11, 2019. It was also disclosed that scattered rains/wind-thunderstorm were also expected in Sukkur and Larkana divisions during this period. The meeting was told that heavy fall may generate urban flooding in Karachi, Thatta, Badin, Hyderabad districts on Saturday and Sunday. The chief minister directed all local bodies to ensure functioning of de-watering pumps and cleaning and desilting of all choked nallas and drainage systems. The chief minister talking to Hyderabad divisional and district administration on video link said that WASA has failed in de-watering exercise because of power failure. “They should have made alternate arrangement for power source to operate their pumping stations. I would not tolerate such failure this time – we all have to learn lesson from pout past mistakes and have to work with new spirit, vigour and experience,” he said. The chief minister said that it is a misconception that detention weirs cause flooding. The weirs were not water generating devices, he said and added delay action prevent from flooding. He said that in absence of weirs flash flooding would be more severe and total quantum of flood would be higher without weirs as they hold some water. The chief minister said that the main root cause of urban flooding was closing of natural lines such as construction of road embankments without proper cross over, plotting over hill torrents beds and encroachment right in water way of hill torrents. The chief minister said that he wanted to conduct hydrological studies of the Karachi. “I am planning to connect dead end drainage line to the main storm water drainage system that is Lyari River and Malir River,” he said and added important installations like Grid stations and pumping stations would be protected by constructing ring bunds. The chief minister also directed all the divisional commissioners, particularly of Hyderabad to mobilese all concerned department such as administration and local bodies, PHE in its districts so that they could face the situation in case of heavy rains. IG Police Dr Kaleem Imam told the chief minister that police would be ready to help district administration and people, all over Sindh in case of any emergency. He said that his force would be ready and will be available on call when and where their services would be required. The chief minister directed the IG Police to activate traffic police during heavy rain so that they could regulate traffic on the roads. He also directed him to work out a detailed security plan during Eid so that everything must remain under control. The chief minister directed deputy commissioners and local bodies to make efforts for allowing slaughter of sacrificial animals at appropriate places/grounds etc so that offals may not floating with rainwater everywhere in Karachi and other cities. In the conclusion of the meeting the chief minister directed all the hospitals to declare emergency and arrange necessary medicines so that they could provide best services to the people during heavy rains and Eid days.