WASA hopes to complete flood prevention projects by mid-June

Citizens urged not to dump solid waste into drains to avoid blockage

RAWALPINDI: Even though the garrison city may be looking ahead to a dry and hot spell, the sanitation company has devised a plan to clean out in under a month the massive storm drain that passes through the city: Nullah Leh.

This was stated by the Rawalpindi Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) Managing Director Raja Shoukat Mehmood on Sunday as he unveiled a plan for the upcoming monsoon season.

Speaking to the media, he urged citizens living in the city's low-lying areas and close to the drains not to dump their solid waste into the nullahs so as to avoid clogging them.



He stressed that citizens should contribute to the sanitation department's efforts regarding the cleanliness of Nullah Leh.

Solid waste, he urged, should only be deposited at the pre-specified points.

Of the Nullah Leh, he said that the storm drain was being dredged and cleared of silt and solid waste. Moreover, he said that it was being widened and deepened to protect the city from flooding.

In this regard, he said that they were focusing their efforts on the densely populated area of Gawalmandi where a lot of garbage is dumped in the drain.



Other areas where sections of the Nullah Leh are being cleaned include Saddar Road, Dhoke Charag Deen, Pirwadhai, New Katrian and Dhoke Naju.

He added that they were hoping to complete the work before the monsoon season starts.

He said Nullah Leh and its tributaries composed the major drainage system through which the stormwater of Islamabad and Rawalpindi was drained.

The regular dredging and desilting of Nullah Leh becomes essential and inevitable to avert flooding situation in the low lying areas located around the nullah

Responding to a query, he said that construction of a wall along Nullah Leh near the Pirwadhai graveyard — from Pirwadhai bridge to Dhoke Dalal – will be completed in June, adding that 900 feet of the 1,200 feet wall has been completed.

Earlier, he said, the oldest graveyard and surrounding residential areas of the city used to be damaged due to flooding in the Nullah Leh and landslide.

The Punjab government, on the request of the residents of the area, approved the project.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2018.