KARACHI: City Mayor Wasim Akhtar said on Wednesday that rainrelated conditions had blocked the entry to the city`s landfill site, because of which tonnes of garbage could not be transported and disposed ofthere.

`The route leading to Jam Chakro landfill site was closed for the past 10 days because of recent rainfall, which could not allow us to dispose of tonnes of garbage from the city,` said the mayor while paying a detailed visit to various parts of Karachi Central district in which he reviewed the ongoing cleanliness drive in the aftermath of the torrential rains with special focus on condition of storm-water drains.

The mayor was accompanied by chairman of District Municipal Corporation (Central) Rehan Hashmi, MPA Jamal Ahmed, chairmen of various union committees of the district, director general of works, senior director of municipal services and other officers.

During his visit he was informed that plenty of industries had laid their waste conduits into stormwater drains, which had miserably choked the flow of rainwater.

Mayor Akhtar warned the industrialists to remove their illegally laid waste-carrying pipes from the drains, or else strict action would be taken against them.

During the visit Mr Akhtar went to DMC Central`s office in Liaquatabad, and neighbourhoods of Nazimabad, North Nazimabad, Hyderi, Shahrah-i-Noor Jahan, Asghar Ali Shah Stadium, etc, where he reviewed the efforts being made to repair the damaged sanitation facilities.

He issued directives to the concerned officers in light of complaints and loopholes in the system he witnessed.

`95pc offal lifted` Mayor Akhtar said 95 per cent of offal of sacrificial animals had been lifted from across the city.

However, he said, there were still reports about neglect in this regard; thus, action would be taken against those officers who showed negligence.

Commenting on the prime minister`s announcement vis-à-vis the Rs25 billion Karachi package, he said the teeming city in fact needed hundred times more than that.

`The governments of Sindh and the Centre should solve the city`s problems once and for all at least relating to the archaic storm-water drains.

He said the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board and the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board were responsible for the urban flooding in Karachi.

`Had deputy commissioners been assigned to manage the rain-related things, the city would not have witnessed the catastrophe that it suffered.

He said all possible measures were being taken to provide relief to the citizens, which the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and the DMCs could do with the meagre resources they possessed.