Karachi: DHA, Clifton keep head above water so far this monsoon

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Work on 26th Street to end in next few days
* Bath Island swims, doesn’t sink this year so far
* New drainage system pulls through

By Shahzad Shah Jillani

KARACHI: Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) officials noted with satisfaction on Wednesday that no major flooding was reported in their jurisdiction for the most part after the heavy downpour Tuesday night.

The newly completed Main Trunk Drains (MTD) and storm water drains proved their use. “I think that this year we will not face a flood-like situation as we did each year after they built the new drainage network across DHA,” said Anis Ahmed, a resident of Khayaban-e-Sehar. “It rained quite a bit but if it continues to rain more than usual we could see ponds forming in some areas,” he feared.

Clifton was slightly worse off than DHA but according to some residents it was still an improvement from how they suffered last year. “We will wait for more showers as it would be too early to comment on the situation,” said Azam Abbas, a resident of Clifton Block 5. He reported that the road leading from old Submarine roundabout to Lilly Bridge had turned into a canal. This road has long been neglected and no matter how much patchwork is done, sewage water still floods it on a regular basis in the dry season.

Bath Island near Teen Talwar was a disaster zone during the monsoon rains of 2006 and 2007. But City Nazim Mustafa Kamal put down new drainage lines. “The condition is a lot better than the previous years and the credit goes to the city nazim for paying attention to this prolonged issue,” said Nilofer Ispahani, a resident.

For the most part, the main avenues in DHA were not disturbed by the water at the first downpour. Khayaban-e-Shahbaz, Sehar, Mohafiz, Shujjat, Shamsheer, Bukhari, Nishat, Badar, and Saba Avenue were wet but had no stagnant water after the rain stopped. The 18,714-meter long Phase I MTD project completed at a cost of 2.7 billion rupees appeared to work so far. DHA spokesman Col (retd) Raffat Naqvi informed Daily Times that the Phase I project was completed with a July 31 deadline. “The Phase II project would be soon started after the monsoon as it was not possible to work on it in such a short time,” he said. “However, the Phase I work is done and it is an achievement for the entire DHA team and project chief Brig. Iftikhar Haider who worked on it day and night.”

Naqvi was cognizant of the fact that there were pools in some areas of Phase II but that was because they had not built the slopes alongside the roads yet. “Work on 26th Street would not affect and flood the avenue as it is connected to an outfall channel with Khayaban-e-Sehar’s MTD line,” he added. “The work on 26th street would be completed in the next few days.”

According to Meteorological Center Karachi regional director Muhammad Tauseef Alam, an average of 50mm was recorded. “The average recorded rainfall along the coastal belt was around 50mm. Light to moderate showers are expected in the next 24 hours.”

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...008_pg12_3