Despite rain warning nullahs not cleared

People have been washed away in overflowing nullahs in past rains

KARACHI:

Despite the prediction of heavy rains in the next few days by the meteorological department, the cleaning and repair work of Gujjar Nullah and other drains could not be completed.

Due to the piles of filth in Karachi's biggest drain and the lack of a boundary wall, the lives of citizens are at risk in the flood situation.

The boundary wall of the city's largest drain the Gujjar Nulla in Liaquatabad is in a dilapidated state. It is choked due to unabated dumping of garbage by the people living around it.

The drain is full of garbage, while local bodies are not ready to clean it, the locals said. The citizen says that due to the garbage in the drain and the dilapidated boundary wall, flooding may occur. In the past, many motorcyclists have fallen into the drain in the dark. The administration should complete the repair work of protective walls and roofs on an emergency basis, including the cleaning of Karachi's drains.

A stark example of death by drowning in the nullahs is that of the family of a man named Danish. On the night of July 19, 2022, Danish, a motorcyclist fell into the Shadman Nullah drain with his wife and two children onboard the two-wheeler. It was raining and the nullah was overflowing to the extent that it was impossible to differentiate between the drain and the road.

If a barrier or concrete blocks had been placed to mark the spot where the motorcycle-riding family fell into the drain, perhaps the family would have been saved from destruction. The mother and infant son drowned and lost their lives, while Danish and his three-year-old daughter Zoya were saved after a tough struggle by locals present at the spot.

The body of the mother was fished out, but the body of the two-and-a-half-month-old baby, Azlan, was never found.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2024.