Gujjar Nullah overflows as showers continue

Rainwater remains stagnant in many areas of city

KARACHI:

Light to moderate intermittent showers continued in the metropolis on Wednesday.

Rainwater remained stagnant in many areas of Karachi, while in the Federal Capital Area (FC Area) the Gujjar Nullah broke banks and flooded nearby locality.

People in FC Area secured their neighbourhood by placing sandbags in front of narrow lanes on self-help basis. FC area along Gujjar Nullah and all roads in the vicinity are inundated with knee deep rain water and residents are forced to move with their belongings to other safe places.

Area people, on self help basis, have erected temporary embankments in front of their homes using cement and gravel to prevent further fluding of their houses. According to details, residents of FC area near Liaquatabad No. 10 are facing severe problems due to rain water entering their houses. Women in the area said they moved important household items to other places.

One lady said that besides important goods, her daughter's dowry was also spoilt in the rain.

Residents say that sewage has mixed with rain water as Gujjar Nullah is overflowing, posing a threat of outbreak of water borne diseases. Area people claim that rain related problems are same what they faced last year during monsoon rain. Authorities and departments concerned have not done any work to prevent flooding of the area. They say, open manholes under stagnant rain water are also a threat to people.

One resident said, the government has been working to re-construct Gujjar Nullah since so long but no significant results have come to light so far.

Citizens request the government to remove the garbage as soon as possible.

Showers continue

Highest precipitation for the day was recorded in Surjani Town where clouds dumped 25 millimeters of rain.

Despite claims of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and the Sindh government, many thoroughfares remained inundated with rainwater causing encumbrance to commuters.

It started raining again late in the night, during which moderate to heavy rains were recorded. The downpour started from the city's suburbs, Super Highway, followed by Jinnah Terminal, Old Airport, Tariq Road, and on to Defence Housing Autority (DHA). It rained in different parts of the city including Sea View, FC Area, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Saddar, Gurmunder, Shahra-e-Faisal, Nazimabad. Lightning struck several places during the rain.

Electrocution

A four-year-old girl was electrocuted in Dawood Chali area of Landhi.

According to police, a high power cable is laid underground by the K-Electric from which the current spread to the nearby electric pole during and after rain. Her body was shifted to Jinnah Hospital. The deceased minor girl was identified as Bilquis daughter of Siddique Afridi.

In this regard, SHO Quaidabad Ashraf Awan told The Express Tribune that the incident took place due to criminal negligence and carelessness of the K-Electric administration. The underground power cable was laid without any protective measures. The SHO said that he had also instructed the K-Electric staff to take action but to no avail.

The SHO said that if the family of the deceased girl wanted to file a case against the K-Electric authorities, their case would be registered.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2022.