Rawalpindi: Memories of 2001 floods haunt Pindiites again

[Naveed Yaseen]

District nazim says cleaning of water channel to be completed before monsoon

Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Saeed Ahmed

Rawalpindi

The residents of various localities situated along the Nullah Leh have expressed fear of floods during monsoon season keeping in view the presence of heaps of garbage in the water channel.

During a survey conducted by ‘The News,’ the inhabitants of Dhoke Dalal, Dhoke Ratta, Usmanpura, Mohanpura, Gawalmandi and Aria Mohallah voiced concern over the poor state of dredging of the ‘nullah’ before monsoon season, which begins in a couple of months.

Hafeez Khan, Nafees Ahmed and Usman, along with their neighbours in Usmanpura, lashed out at the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) authorities and the city district government for their failure in desilting the Nullah Leh, particularly the main channel starting from Gawalmandi and Ratta Amral to Liaquat Bagh along Murree Road. They said that the main channel could cause floods due to the presence of garbage in a large quantity.

The residents of Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, including Mahfooz, Jamil, Salim and Fakhruddin, told ‘The News’ that they contacted the Wasa officials to lodge a request regarding cleaning of Nullah Leh, but they refused to do so, saying that the dredging of Nullah Leh was the responsibility of the city district government and Wasa has nothing to do with it.

The residents of Aria Mohallah lambasted the concerned authorities for failing in cleaning the Nullah Leh before the monsoon season.

The inhabitants of the locality, including Rafaqat Ali, Ramsha, Mehwish and Manzoor Khan, feared that if the Nullah Leh was not cleaned then its water would overflow in streets and gush into their houses during monsoon rains, damaging their household goods, electronic appliances, furniture, electricity wirings and endanger their lives.

They urged Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif to take notice of the situation and direct the concerned authorities, whether Wasa or the city government, to issue orders for the cleaning of Nullah Leh to avert loss of life and property in case of floods during the monsoon season.

When ‘The News’ contacted Wasa Director Naseer Ahmed, he said that the task of cleaning the Nullah Leh was not the responsibility of the agency, but it was the duty of the city district government.

He said that that District Officer (Municipal Services) Dr. Mazhar deals with this issue.

When this correspondent tried to contact District Officer (Municipal Services) Dr. Mazhar, his telephone number was switched off.

Meanwhile, City District Government Nazim Raja Javed Ikhlas, while commenting over the issue, expressed confidence that the Nullah Leh would not play havoc during the coming monsoon season starting in July. The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) and Wasa, on the orders of the Punjab and city district government, have completed the dredging work and deepening of Nullah Leh by another three feet last year. When his attention was drawn towards the presence of garbage in the Nullah Leh and choking of sewers, as claimed by residents of several localities, the district nazim assured that he would direct the concerned officials to take measures for cleaning the Nullah Leh on immediate basis. “The work on the Nullah Leh cleaning would start within a week,” he added.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=176117