Sindh Minister for Local Government Nasir Hussain Shah Monday slammed former fast bowler Wasim Akram, who had expressed disappointment over the urban flooding situation in Karachi following a spell of rain in the city.
Responding to the ex-captain of the Pakistan cricket team, Shah invited him to visit Karachi and "inspect [the] streets of Karachi and see how water has been drained from all roads".
Shah lashed out at the former left-arm pace, saying that if he had tweeted on the Karachi rain situation on hearsay, then he had "disappointed millions of people in Sindh".
"I invite my neighbor Wasim Akram 2 come wid me now n inspect streets of Khi n c how water has been drained 4m all roads.I’m sure tht if u r sincere then u’ll defntly go n if u’ve tweeted on hearsay then thr is no one more irspnsbl than u bcz u’ve disapntd millions of ppl in Sindh," he tweeted.
As video clips of several locations around Karachi flooded with rainwater and gutters overflowing started to go viral on social media, Akram took to Twitter to call for addressing Karachi's problem.
"Seeing the footage of Karachi underwater and my heart goes out to all affected. I can’t say I’m not surprised that this has happened yet again. A wake up call? No it’s a problem that needs to be addressed period! We need to fix our beautiful city," he tweeted.
At least three people died on Sunday and more than 550 K-Electric (KE) feeders tripped on Sunday as a third spell of rain lashed the city.
According to police, the deaths all occurred due to electrocution in separate incidents across the city. Among the victims was a 10-year-old child, a resident of Gulshan-e-Hadeed Phase 2, a 22-year-old living from Landhi's Qazzafi Town, and another person from Garden area's Fawwara Chowk neighbourhood, rescue officials said.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had last week forecast a third spell of monsoon in Karachi with heavy rain and thunderstorm in the port city between July 26 and July 27.
Malir, Shah Faisal Colony, Gulistan-e-Johar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, FB Area, Liaquatabad, PIB Colony, Gulshan-e-Maymar, Korangi, and Old City Area were all reported to be without power as the rain started early afternoon.
