June 25, 2015
News
Karachi heatwave deaths reach 850; situation starts improving
*Death toll in Interior Sindh stands at 38 as nine more, including a prisoner, die in Hyderabad* JPMC director says number of deaths considerably down
KARACHI: A heatwave has killed nearly 800 people in Karachi and piled pressure on a beleaguered provincial government, as rivals blame it for severe blackouts and crumbling public services that have added to the woe.
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Maj Gen Asghar Nawaz told media at the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) that as many as 800 people have died in Karachi due to heatwave since Saturday. The death toll in the Interior Sindh was 38. He said that the death toll at the JPMC was 308 till now. However, JPMC Joint Director Dr Seemi Jamali said at least 311 have died at the hospital owing to heatwave. She said about 50 percent of the patients were brought dead while the rest expired at the hospital. She further said that as many as 150 patients suffering from sunstroke are admitted at the JPMC. She said that the number of deaths has decreased in comparison with the past couple of days.
The sizzling heat claimed nine lives including a prisoner in Hyderabad district also. According to spokesman of Edhi Foundation, one under trial prisoner of Nara Prison fell victim of heatstroke on Wednesday. He was shifted to Liaquat University Hospital Hyderabad where he breathed his last. The spokesman said that on Wednesday, Edhi volunteers shifted bodies of eight persons from Liaquat University Hospital to their homes.
The military, which heavily criticized the government for corruption last week, is winning praise after it set up 22 health centres to distribute aid. “They (the army) are at least handing out cold wet towels, juice and rehydration salt,” said Ahmed Sultan, as he squeezed a towel soaked in ice water over his sweat-soaked clothes at a military tent set up outside an overflowing public hospital.
“This government just keeps on giving us the death toll ... this government is a total failure.”
The death toll in Karachi, a city of 20 million people, had reached 850 by Wednesday, said Anwar Kazmi, a senior official of the Edhi Foundation.
“We are planning to expand the Edhi morgue to cope with a situation like this in future,” he said.
Government health officials did not return calls seeking comment. Angry lawmakers blamed each other in parliament for the crisis, feeding perceptions that the city’s political leaders are floundering after a week of temperatures that touched 44 degrees Celsius.
“Two years have gone by. Where are the government’s power projects?” demanded lawmaker Asad Umar, of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif blamed the provincial government, led by an opposition coalition.
“If there is shortage of water in Karachi, that is not the federal government’s responsibility,” he said. “If the water board has not paid its bills, it is not the federal government’s responsibility.”
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk