Drainage systems fail; DMCs, KMC nowhere in sight

Newly-built University Road, Tariq Road among inundated thoroughfares

KARACHI: As water started to recede from the streets and thoroughfares of the city, it exposed a sorry condition of the roads that had been submerged in water for several hours.

Rangers' officials, along with machinery and police personnel, were seen Thursday night doing rescue work on the roads of the city.
The main thoroughfares, including II Chundrigar Road, University Road, Sharae Quaideen, Sharae Pakistan, Khayaban-e-Bahria, Khayban-e-Shahbaz and the road near the high court had pot holes, while a few of them remained inundated till Friday evening.



After the heavy downpour on Thursday night, social media was flooded with pictures and videos of the newly-built Tariq Road and University Road, showing the flood on one track of Tariq Road coming from Bahadurabad towards Allah Wali Chowrangi.

Meanwhile, on the newly-built section of University Road from Hassan Square till Nipa, the road was submerged in eight inches of rainwater.

"These two new roads can sustain the rain water, as both have storm water drains and are newly-built," claimed on Thursday evening District East Chairperson Moeed Anwar.



However, to his surprise both roads were submerged by late night.
Niaz Soomro, director of the recently formed local government directorate which was responsible for making these two projects, shared that the situation was not so bad. The water had accumulated since the rain was very heavy. However, one must also notice how fast the water was drained out, Soomro commented, claiming there must be some sort of blockage in the drains, otherwise it would have functioned better.

A portion of the road in Essa Nagri near Hassan Square caved in, blocking traffic movement towards Nazimabad and Liaquatabad. However, repair work is ongoing.



Meanwhile, the situation in District Central, in areas surrounding its main storm water drain, Gujjar Nullah, remained deteriorated as it had overflown even before the heavy downpour of Thursday night.
DMC Central Chairperson Rehan Hashmi admitted the situation had gotten out of control and said they have imposed an emergency in the area.

II Chundrigar Road

Considered the business hub of the city, II Chundrigar Road was mostly inundated.

DMC South Chairperson Malik Fayyaz told The Express Tribune that he had already told the media that several of the storm water drains in his area required cleaning, but the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) never cooperated with DMC South.

Roads in Malir, Korangi, Gulzar-e-Hijri, North Nazimabad and MA Jinnah Road and Sharae Pakistan were also badly affected by the rain.



"We are not satisfied with the situation of the city," said Deputy Mayor Arshad Vohra.

The situation got out of control as most of the storm water drains were filled with garbage and other solid waste material, he said, adding that the dumping of solid waste in storm water drains should be declared a criminal act and the DMC chairperson should get magisterial powers to arrest culprits.