Punjab releases Rs35m to unclog Pindi’s drains

RCB cleans drains in five colonies

RAWALPINDI:

As Rawalpindi prepares to welcome the monsoon season, the Punjab government has released Rs35 million to clean 10 major drains of the city.

District officials said that the Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Narcotics Sheikh Rashid Shafique, a member of the National Assembly from NA-60 Rawalpindi from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had requested the Punjab government that the monsoon season is about to start but the drains of the city have yet to be fully cleaned. A permanent resident of Mohalla Ganga Ram in the Sarafa Bazaar area of Rawalpindi - which is around a kilometre from Nullah Leh, Shafique had expressed the fear that the clogged drains could lead to urban flooding during the monsoon season.

Drains of the city have not been cleaned and we may face a flood situation, Shafique said.

He added that it was the responsibility of the city’s metropolitan corporation to clean the drains of the city and hoped that with the release of the funds, the work will be completed soon. He thanked Punjab Chief Minister Usman Bazdar, Punjab Chief Secretary Jawad Rafique Malik and Rawalpindi Commissioner Muhammad Mahmood for releasing the funds for their efforts to prevent flooding in the city.

RCB conducting dredging

Meanwhile, the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) on Sunday said that they are finalising arrangements for the monsoon season, including dredging, de-silting and cleanliness of different nullahs in the city.

An RCB spokesperson said that the board, on the directives of the Cantonment executive officer, had launched a drive to clean storm drains within the jurisdiction of the cantonment.

Supervised by the Additional CEO and Public Health Officer, cleanliness work of Adra, Faisal Colony, Mir Bakhsh Colony, Aslam Market and Peoples Colony has been completed, while cleanliness work on remaining nullahs has been accelerated.

The RCB sanitation in-charge has been directed to clean the drains using excavators and clear all culverts of nullahs while utilising available resources within a few days.

The RCB official said that the board is closely monitoring the flow of water in different nullahs as the city and its surrounding areas continue to receive rains.

He said that if required, another cleanliness round on the drains will be initiated.

Apart from the drains, he said that the sanitation branch is also working to clean different areas of RCB daily.

Moreover, he added that special teams have been formed to offer quick response and conduct relief and rescue operations in case of any emergency.