WASA starts cleaning Nullah Leh

Punjab govt releases Rs30 million to clean areas along Nullah Leh to avoid flooding

RAWALPINDI:

The Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) has started clearing and cleaning Nullah Leh to avoid flooding during monsoon.

 The Punjab government had released Rs30 million to clean areas along Leh Nullah to avoid flooding during the upcoming monsoon season.

According to WASA Managing Director Raja Shaukat Mahmood that the dredging and desilting of Nullah Leh have been started from the Gawalmandi bridge site.He said that under a comprehensive strategy, sewerage lines across the city will be cleaned and manholes will be repaired.

The WASA MD inspected the ongoing work at the Gawalmandi bridge site and said that the cleaning work would be completed before the monsoon.

Meanwhile, WASA has started repairing heavy machinery to be used during the monsoon, including jetting and sucking machines, as well as de-watering sets.

According to WASA spokesperson Omar Farooq, Nullah Leh is being monitored continuously. He said that the water flow in Nullah Leh is below five feet currently and its bed will be deepened through proper cleaning.

He said that it will also be ensured that the tidal wave coming from Islamabad during the monsoon should pass through Nullah Leh and reach the Sawan River in the shortest possible time without any hindrance.

Steps will be taken to protect the areas including Javed Colony, Chamanzar, Dhok Elahi Bakhsh, Dhok Najo, Dhok Dalal, Dhok Hasso, Dhok Rata, Mohanpura, Gawalmandi and Dhok Chirag Din from flooding, which were located on the banks of Nullah Laeh and where the heavy loss of life and property is feared during flooding in the nullah.

The spokesperson has asked the citizens to stay away from the banks of Nullah Leh during the monsoon and avoid tying animals and valuables along the nullah.

Nullah Leh causes a flood-like situation for the city of Rawalpindi during the monsoon season and its open sewage also causes pollution.

In order to protect the city from the flooding of Nullah Lehi and environmental pollution and to provision of alternate transport route between the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the approval for Nullah Leh Expressway and Flood Channel Project was approved for the second time during the former prime minister Imran Khan’s regime from the platform of ECNEC.

However, work on the Rs100 billion project could not be started as the ECNEC has conditioned the start of work on the project with the collaboration of a private investor.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2022.