Public holiday after massive rain brings Karachi to halt

KARACHI: The Sindh government announced a province-wide public holiday on Friday (today) in the aftermath of a record-breaking rainfall that left at least two dozen people dead in Karachi and paralyzed the normal life.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said that all the government, semi-private and private institutions, and organizations shall observe a public holiday on Friday.

He said that the institutions of essential duties and emergency response centres shall continue to discharge their duties as usual.

The decision came after heavy rainfall wreaked havoc in Karachi, Hyderabad, Dadu, Mirpurkhas and other parts of the province.

According to Edhi, more than 40 people have lost their lives in two days of rainfall in Karachi alone.

Separately, Prime Minister Imran Khan called Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and offered his support to deal with the natural calamity.

The PM said that his government was working to fix the problem of urban flooding on a permanent basis.

“We will be announcing a plan for a permanent solution to the problems caused by floods by cleaning of nullahs, fixing of the sewage system & resolving the huge challenge of water supply to the ppl of Karachi. We will not abandon the people of Karachi in their time of crisis,” Khan tweeted. hi