KARACHI : The Sindh government on Thursday requested the Supreme Court to give it until August 30 to clean Karachi’s stormwater drains.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, was hearing a case related to illegal encroachments on drains at the apex court’s Karachi registry.

The Advocate General (AG) submitted a report on behalf of the local government secretary, informing that work on cleaning of drains is underway. 50 per cent of the city’s Gujjar nullah and 20 per cent of CBM Nullah have been cleaned, he said.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan, a member of the bench, questioned why the government is reluctant to work with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to clean drains.

CJP Gulzar remarked that the actual issue is that the Sindh government will risk losing World Bank funds if it is not allowed to clean drains on its own and asked if the government had spent funds in a transparent manner in the past.

He reprimanded the AG on presenting pictures of cleaned nullahs in court, questioning what was he trying to prove by doing so? “Karachi’s population is more than 30 million. By cleaning two-three nullahs, you say Karachi’s problem has resolved.”