Drive against properties on drains

The Civil Defence Department has issued red notices to owners of 280 properties constructed illegally along the banks of 10 major storm drains, asking them to submit registries and documents of the same within 48 hours.

Construction and encroachments within close range of storm drains pose grave threat to the community as a whole, especially in weathers such as the prevalent monsoon rains.

Should the said owners fail to produce proof of approval for these constructions, their properties will be bulldozed the following week.

A survey has been initiated on the orders of Deputy Commissioner Tahir Farooq to collect information about all construction carried out on the lands and banks of the major storm drains.

The aforementioned notices have been issued to owners whose properties cover the banks of the storm drains in Rehmatabad, Dhoke Munshi, Jabbi, Jaba, Ghausia Colony, Dhoke Mai Sarwar, low-lying areas of Scheme 3, Gulistan Colony, Peoples Colony, Tench Bhata, Dhoke Syedan, Jan Colony and Adra.

Civil Defence Department Senior Instructor Sadaf Zahoor told The Express Tribune that they have issued the said notices as per Civil Defence 1951 Rules under sections 10 and 14, which empower the department to serve red notices to owners of those buildings that pose a danger to human lives.

“Not only have these buildings been constructed along the banks of the storm drains, but the owners have also encroached upon eight to 10 feet of land belonging to these drains,” said the official, adding that the walls of the buildings adjoining the storm drains are in such a condition of decay that they can fall into the drains at any moment, thus endangering human lives.

The official further said that the survey is still under way, with a conservative estimate indicating that owners of at least 150 to 200 more buildings will be served similar notices.

“Our teams are constantly surveying the properties built alongside these storm drains from their starting point till the place where they fall into River Soan and Nullah Leh,” said Sadaf. “We are in touch with the Municipal Corporation, Rawalpindi Development Authority, district council and cantonment board to keep abreast of the records pertaining to this situation.”

The Civil Defence Department is determined to remove all encroachments on the state land alongside the storm drains.

“The restoration of the storm drains to their original state will go a long way in vanquishing the threat of flooding in any parts of Rawalpindi once and for all,” said the official, adding that they will meet their target in the next two weeks.

Around 35 owners of the buildings in question have only produced stamp papers, which hold no value in the eyes of the authorities concerned. Those who come forward with more evidence will have to get their registries verified from the registrar office.

Cantt board follows suit

The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) has also issued notices to around 150 owners of buildings constructed illegally on sewage drains, while a dozen such buildings have been vacated.

The sewage drains, which had already not been cleaned thoroughly in time for the monsoon rains, overflew their capacity in the recent deluges and caused irreparable loss to life and property.

RCB Chief Engineer Ateeq ur Rehman Chaudhry is currently overseeing the cleanup operation being carried out by Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) as well as teams from the cantonment board. Numerous tonnes of waste have been removed from the sewage drains already, with the cleaning crew continuing to work hard to clear up the remaining waste as soon as possible.

Besides the problem cause by heaps of rubbish and waste choking the drains, illegal constructions on the premises have also endangered lives and property in the area.

A source at RCB told The Express Tribune that the notices issued to the owners of the said structures have demanded that they submit their respective building plans, failing which the indicated properties would be razed to the ground.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 18^th, 2022.