Storm drains yet to be cleaned

Meteorological dept has not ruled out possibility of heavy rains hitting Karachi starting July

KARACHI:

Despite last year’s catastrophic floods, it seems that the Sindh government has not learned any lessons, as it has not started cleaning storm drains in Karachi even though monsoon season is right around the corner.

According to the Meteorological Department’s forecast, there is a possibility of heavy rains in the city starting the first week of July. Dr Sardar Sarfaraz, Chief Meteorologist, when asked to elaborate on the monsoon rains prediction, replied: “There are two distinct possibilities, one is that Sindh and Balochistan may receive less than normal rain, the other is heavy rains during the monsoon period, which will start from July 1st and continue until September.”

However, it seems that  Dr Sarfaraz’s warning has fallen on deaf ears as the Express Tribune learnt from sources privy to the information that the port city’s roughly 343 small and large rain drains have not been cleaned yet, which puts the metropolis at the risk of being flooded once it starts pouring. Moreover, a seven-member committee - which includes the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board’s Managing Director, and the officials of the Sindh government and the Metropolitan Corporation of Karachi - formed by the provincial government for the cleaning of storm drains has no focal person.

Sindh government’s Coordinator, Ram Chand, who is part of the committee, when asked about the inattention to the storm drains, confirmed that the port city’s drains had not been cleaned yet. “The cleaning work is expected to start on June 13th and will continue for 3 to 4 months,” informed Chand. Upon being pointed out that this would be too late for the upcoming season, the Coordinator said that the provincial government had not yet released the funds required for the cleaning process. “However, the summary of the cleaning grant, which is Rs 620 million, has been approved,” he quickly added.

“Although the cleaning process has been delayed, there is no risk of urban flooding in Karachi this time, as the reconstruction and cleaning of Mehmoodabad drain and 18 other drains has already been completed,” Chand further clarified, “and if rainwater does accumulate in any part of the city, local authorities will drain it out by using pumps.”

While it remains to be seen whether Chand’s dismissal of the risk of flooding will come to haunt the provincial government later, Dr Syed Nawaz-ul-Huda, a regional planner based in the city, lambasted the government for its lacklustre attitude.

“Yet another year has passed and the government has done precious little to remove the encroachments on the storm drains. Hence, there is no doubt in my mind that the monsoon season will be a burden on Karachi’s populace this time around as well,” Dr Huda predicted.

The regional planner was of the view that the government’s stopgap solutions such as clearing flood water by pumps indicated their lack of planning.

“In every developed city rainwater drainage is done by gravity, as the roads are constructed in such a way that the water flows down towards drains but clearly the government has not thought of this and continues to rely on methods that do no work,” the regional planner opined while talking to The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2023.