Like every year, for the people residing in the rural areas of Islamabad, monsoons have brought with them a lot of fear and anxiety. Unfortunately, the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration does not seem too much in control either, as was witnessed during the heavy downpour on Friday night.
The rain, which started at around 2am, affected several areas such as Kirpa Sohan, Phulgran, Tumair, Chirah and Bhara Kahu union councils, where a number of bridges, streets and roads were partially damaged.
According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), approximately 77mm of rain was recorded in Islamabad and 83mm in Rawalpindi, with the rain expected to continue for another 48 hours.
The monsoon season, according to PMD Director General Dr Arif Mehmood, will continue till the third week of September.
The rural areas host the two main water reservoirs of the twin cities, Rawal and Simly dams, and when the water level in these dams reaches the highest point, their spillways are opened, often without proper coordination among concerned departments. Currently the water level in Rawal and Simly dams is around 1738.6 and 2,272.9 feet respectively. There is still some time till the reservoirs are filled to the capacity as the spillways will be opened once the level rises to 1,752 and 2,315 feet, said an official.
In 2010, flash floods caused by discharge of water from Rawal Dam took several lives besides causing an infrastructure loss of over Rs830 million in the suburban areas.
Following the floods, the ICT administration conducted a survey and decided to replace 21 “dangerous” riverside roads with 53 bridges. However, work on the Rs1.3 billion project is yet to begin despite the passage of two years.
On the other hand, the Civil Defence Department (CDD), which deals with emergency situations in rural areas, has only one vehicle and 35 volunteers at its disposal.
Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Amir Ali Ahmed, when contacted, said that the administration had finalised a flood contingency plan and officials of CDD, assistant commissioners and magistrates have been deputed in different low-lying areas.
Regarding the 53 bridges, he said that the administration is facing severe financial constraints due to which the project could not take any shape. “Work on the project will begin as soon as funds are released,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 26th, 2012.
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