Self help: Pindi residents wading through rainwater

Houses, shops in low-lying areas still inundated, city admin fail to provide help.

RAWALPINDI:

Wading through the rainwater that had entered their houses and shops, many Rawalpindi residents spent Saturday draining water out of their houses without any help from the city administration.

Rainwater had accumulated on different roads and thoroughfares including Muree Road, Chandni Chowk, Committee Chowk and Mareer Chowk after torrential rains lashed the city for the last two days. Many houses and shops in low-lying areas were also flooded or submerged.

Rainwater has also accumulated in work sites excavated for the metro bus project. Labourers could be seen draining water from sites near Chandni Chowk, Committee Chowk and Mareer with the help of mechanical pumps.

Muhammad Mehtab, a labourer, said that they have been asked to drain out the rainwater quickly so that work on the metro bus project was not affected. He said construction work had to be stopped on Friday due to the accumulation of water.

Commuters and pedestrians had to face difficulty in movement due to accumulation of rainwater near Chandni Chowk. Traffic remained stuck for hours in areas where roads have been dug to lay the new infrastructure for the metro bus project.

Hamid Mahmud, a shopkeeper, who was clearing the rainwater from the basement of his toy shop on Muree Road near Ahmadabad, said that his shop was completely inundated by the rainwater and he had to shift his stock to a friend’s shop.

In many low-lying areas including Javed Colony, Nadeem Colony, Arian Mohallah, Dhok Choudrian, Dhok Kashmirian and Afridi Colony, where drainage is almost non-existent, there was a nightmare situation for residents, whose houses and shops were inundated by the rainwater.

Government Comprehensive High School for Boys and Government Comprehensive School for Girls in Dhok Kashmirian and the Hashmat Ali College in Sadiqabad were also submerged.

The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board has failed to drain accumulated rainwater from many areas predominantly populated by civilians.

Muhammad Hayat, a resident of Saddar, said the rain and floods exposed the administration’s tall claims of having taken measures.

WASA spokesperson Muhammad Umar Farooq said leave for staff has been cancelled so drainage work can be carried out on an urgent basis.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2014.