Daily Times

KARACHI: Heatwave relief camps have been set up at various places in Karachi for the facilitation of people of metropolis.

An announcement on Monday said that these camps have been set by Mobilink’s umbrella brand Jazz, in
partnership with Voice of Karachi (VoK).

It said that under this campaign, the Telco brand sends out regular text messages to Karachiites featuring emergency numbers in case of a heatstroke, safety tips, and guidelines to nurse a heatstroke victim till help arrives, amongst other related topics.

While speaking about the need to assist the local government in ensuring safety of the public during the ongoing heatwave, Omar Manzur, Head of Corporate Communications Mobilink stated that we believe private-social sector partnerships are imperative in assisting the district government in combating rising temperatures in the metropolis. He said that our partnership with VoK looks to control the situation before it turns into a calamity.

The heatwave relief camps will be set up throughout the month of May, as and when required by the district government and threat updates shared by the Pakistan Meteorological Department, he added.

Each heatwave relief camp has two 220-litre cold water drums, a water cooler, wet towels, and packets of ORS. It was further pointed out that the goods have been donated by Mobilink and its day-to-day management is under supervision of VoK’s administration.

On a separate note, as compare to last year, there has been a lot of awareness among the people regarding protection from heatstroke and other related diseases caused by severe heatwave as well as sufficient arrangements have also been made to face any such a situation.

This was stated by the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) Joint Director Dr Seemi Jamali. She said that there is no patient admitted to heatwave at the JPMC.

She said that the people in the metropolis are well aware as well as prepared to face any situation in the wake of any heatwave in view of last year’s bitter experience in which many causalities were reported.

Dr Jamali pointed out that this time, the authorities concerned have already fostered quite an awareness regarding the heatwave and as to how to face the situation in case of any heatwave.

She said that the authorities are also well prepared this time and have come up with sufficient arrangement. In this regard, she also praised the role of federal and the provincial governments. Dr Jamali said that a number of heat stroke care centres have sprung up in the metropolis.

It may be recalled that last year there were many hundred deaths including Karachi that were attributed to the onslaught of the heatwave.