Stormy weather sparks crisis in district

SIALKOT: Heavy rain and wind storms in the district have led to dozens of trees being uprooted in the district. According to administration officials, dozens of trees were uprooted during the two-day storm and main roads including Sialkot-Daska-Gujranwala Road, Sialkot-Pasrur Road, Sialkot-Sambrial-Wazirabad Road, Pasrur-Narowal Road and surrounding areas have been blocked.

The rain has also compromised electrical and communication systems as power supply remained suspended for over 14 hours in urban and rural areas of the district on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The storms have also exposed the negligence of the Sialkot tehsil municipal association (TMA) as TMA officials have not removed broken trees and scattered tree branches across major roads throughout the district. “We have had to take a longer route for the past two days as no one has bothered to clean up the roads,” said a commuter on the Kutchery Road, Rashid.

He said that the TMA has not cleared up any of the roads and traffic was blocked throughout the city.

“Traffic remains blocked on Kutchery Road, Paris Road, Abbot Road, Jail Road, Railway Road, Mujahid Road, Commissioner Road, the congested Allama Iqbal Chowk, Khadim Ali Road, Sialkot Airport Road, Hajipura Road and others. We wait in traffic jams for hours,” he said.

Residential, industrial and commercial areas in the district were inundated with the rain and sewerage water over the past three days.

“Every time it rains it seems that there is a flood of sewerage water in the entire district because the TMA hasn’t managed to repair any of the open sewers in the district,” said Malik Riaz, a Sambrial resident. Old choked sewerage and drainage lines have been overflowing in the district for the past two days.

The concerned officials of Sialkot MET office have forecast more rain and storms in the region and in all the catchment areas of neighbouring Occupied Jammu and Kashmir during the next 24 hours.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2010.