The death toll from the deadly heatwave in Karachi has crossed 250 now and is expected to rise even further. As many as 70 deaths were reported from Karachi on Monday. The mercury hit 45 degree Celsius in Karachi on Saturday, which was one of the hottest days ever recorded in Karachi in the last. Before Saturday Karachi had experienced 45 degree Celsius temperature only twice, 48 degree Celsius in May 1938 and 47 degree Celsius in June 1979. The extreme heat coupled with relentless load shedding in the month of Ramadan has made life tough for the citizens. There have been a large number of complaints of unannounced hour’s long load shedding in different parts of Karachi by K-Electric. State Minister for Water and Power, Abid Sher Ali blamed PPP-led Sindh government for increased power outages in Karachi. The State Minister also claimed that load shedding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is being carried out on behest of CM Pervez Khattak. However, ironically the situation in Punjab where the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz government is in power is not any different, reports have been pouring in from Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Multan regarding long-drawn power breakdowns. PM Nawaz Sharif also expressed sorrow over loss of lives in Karachi and directed immediate medical relief to the affected person. The statement by PM points towards the worrying trend of issuing a statement after an incident. The Government should take steps to avoid such tragedies instead of issuing a grieving statement. There were no warnings regarding the extreme heat wave which also contributed to the loss of live on such a scale. The ruling Government had promised to put an end to power troubles in less than two year during the election campaign but have failed miserably to live up to their promises. The deaths in Karachi point towards the severe incompetence of the Federal and Sindh Government.
