The Sindh government on Monday decided to forward the case of alleged theft of wheat worth Rs 7 billions from its warehouses in the province to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to investigate it thoroughly.
The decision came during a meeting presided over by the Sindh chief secretary. Officials of the food department, the anti-corruption establishment and other relevant departments were in attendance in the meeting.
About 168,000 metric tonnes of wheat went missing from the government warehouses in the province. The wheat worth Rs 7 billion was stolen in the month of February, according to a report. Another wheat bags worth Rs 450 million had gone missing last year in November, the report said.
Earlier, the chief secretary Sindh had handed over the matter for an inquiry to the anti-corruption department. It may be noted that the Sindh government has set a target of 1.4 million tonnes of wheat procurement this year.
Meanwhile, the Sindh government has imposed an emergency in all hospitals across the province, keeping in view the heat wave and a thunderstorm alert issued by the Pakistan Meteorological Department. As per details, the Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho has asked authorities to establish special wards for heatstroke cases.
According to a notification issued by the Sindh Health Services Directorate General, medical and paramedical staff won’t be given any leave during this period.
The Met Office has forecast that a heat wave would hit Karachi from May 5 till May 8 with the temperature rising to 40 to 42 degrees Celsius.
Chief meteorologist officer Sardar Sarfraz in a statement said: “The PMD predicts heat wave in Karachi and its suburbs during May 5 to 8, 2020, and the maximum temperature can rise to 40-42C. Wind flow will be generally from Northwest/West turning to Southwest in the evening during these days.”
The MET Office also forecasts a dust-thunderstorm coupled with rain in Sukkur, Larkana, Jacobabad and Shaheed Benazirabad this week.
On Saturday, Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar imposed a state of emergency in hospitals under the administrative control of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC). The mayor asked the citizens to avoid unnecessarily going out, especially during the daytime.
