Monsoon floods: ‘Don’t throw trash into drains’

WASA completes desilting of Leh; rain gauges made operational for advance flood warnings.

RAWALPINDI:

In light of the impending monsoon rains, the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) has completed the dredging and desilting of Nullah Leh to reduce the flood risk.

Wasa spokesperson Muhammad Umar Farooq said the agency started desilting on May 24 and completed it after a month. He said the agency had planned to clear 16 points in the garrison city, which included Katarian Bridge on IJP Road, Pirwadhai, Ganjmandi and Phagwari (Dhoke Dalol Bridge) up to Ammar Chowk in Rawalpindi. He said garbage and solid building materials dumped by residents into the stream are the main cause of floods in low-lying areas.

Wasa Management Director Raja Shoukat Mehmood told The Express Tribune that the Punjab government provided Rs15 million for the cleanup operation but the agency had to spend an additional Rs7 million as the process proved more expensive.

He said tremendous manpower and heavy machinery were required for desilting the banks and for transporting the excavated waste some 10-12 kilometres away from the city.

Mehmood said the district coordination officer had constituted a special committee comprising the heads of various departments including the army, cantonment boards, federal flood committee, Civil Defense, the Meteorological Department and Rescue 1122 to monitor the process and give recommendations after visiting the sites.

With the Met Department’s help, we made all the rain gauges operational so we receive advance warnings in case of water overflow, said Mehmood, adding that the government has established pre-alert, alert and evacuation strategies to meet every kind of challenge.

“It will speed up the flow of water and silt will not accumulate there,” he informed. However, he said dredging and desilting is not a permanent solution and what is required is proper lining of the bed and edges of Nullah Leh.

Explaining reasons behind the accumulation of waste, Mehmood said untreated solid waste from Islamabad’s drains needs to be addressed. He added there was a proposal from the Punjab government that waste from the main drains at Zero Point in Islamabad should be diverted to Soan River, but it could not be implemented. Wasa has also acquired around 6,000 kanals for a sewage treatment plant near Adiala and Gorakhpur, he added.

Wasa Sanitation and Drainage Engineer Zahoor Ahmad Dogar suggested that roads should be constructed on both sides of the drain to help stop people from dumping waste in the stream.

Dogar said the provincial government has announced it will set aside Rs30 million for dredging and desilting operations next year.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2014.