Govt urged to halt construction on waterways
: Residents of Hyderabad’s Railway Colony remain stranded as rainwater submerges the locality, forcing people to stay indoors or venture out at their own peril, while civic authorities appear indifferent to draining the accumulated water. Photo: INP
Hyderabad's business community has urged the Sindh government to stop allowing construction of housing projects or industrial zones along the officially declared waterways, canals, and storm drains. In a letter addressed to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Thursday, the Hyderabad Chamber of Small Trade and Small Industry (HCSTSI) also called for initiating a topographical survey of the Indus River and all of its canals.
"This issue directly impacts urban planning, disaster management, flood prevention, environmental sustainability, and public safety," the chamber's president Muhammad Saleem Memon underlined. He said that over the years, construction activity on the waterways and encroachments have rendered destructive consequences for the people.
He added that the 2022 monsoon rains caused losses of hundreds of billions of rupees in Karachi, Hyderabad, and the rest of Sindh. The chamber suggested that the provincial government should launch GPS, GIS, and topographic surveys from the point where the Indus River starts in Sindh to the zero point at the Arabian Sea.
The surveys should also encompass canals, distributaries, and the natural and man-made storm drains. Memon proposed that after completing the survey, the report should be notified in the gazette, besides being made available to the public online. He referred to a study and said that 20 per cent to 30 per cent of the rain or flood-related losses in Sindh are attributed to encroachments.
He emphasised that the Sindh government's regulatory arms like the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) , the development authorities, local bodies, and the irrigation department should be stringently directed to enforce the survey. The chamber's president pointed out that diversions in the natural drains in the Hyderabad SITE area have also caused massive financial losses to the industry.
"The old storm drains have been encroached upon or blocked, causing severe damage." He underscored that the erratic weather patterns entailing above-normal rainfalls and floods, thanks to climate change, have necessitated dedicated planning and action to prevent people from suffering losses in the future.
The chamber also demanded an immediate halt to mining activity in the mountains, especially the Khirthar Range, which it said contributed to the recent urban flooding in Karachi. The business community also stressed the need for policymaking in the domain of climate resilience.