The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) on Wednesday, directed National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to clean Karachi drains.
A three-member bench of SC comprising of Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Ijazul Ahsan and headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed heard the case illegal encroachments on drains at the SC Karachi registry.
During the hearing the top court directed NDMA to clean Karachi drains and remove all illegal encroachments on drainage system and infrastructure across the city.
“NDMA will look after encroachments and other matters, besides cleaning drains. Sindh government should provide assistance to the NDMA,” remarked the court.
Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shallwani, and Advocate General Sindh also attended the hearing, with the former submitted a report on anti-encroachment drive by authorities.
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The court inquired Commissioner Karachi about the ongoing cleaning work on Karachi drains by NDMA, to which Iftikhar Shallwani said that the federal authority has addressed three main drains of Karachi, whereas the city has around 38 and 514, major and small drains.
Khalid Javed Khan – Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) also attended the hearing and apprised the court that the center is deliberating on different legal and constitutional options to save Karachi.
The development comes as the metropolitan city was subjected to urban flooding in recent monsoon spell due to inadequate and inefficient drainage system.
