When the rains come
It is a looming threat — the onset of the monsoon season. The cloudy skies that should be a welcome relief from the scorching heat are in fact a harbinger of disaster on the roads for the residents of Karachi. The perils of the monsoon in Karachi are embedded in the minds of its residents who year after year have watched the drama of flooding unravel on the roads and at times in their homes. A recent report indicates that “most towns in the city are still unprepared to cope with the post-rain situation due to the lack of infrastructure, incomplete development projects and the poor financial situation”.
This problem has taken on a tangible form in the ‘city of lights’. Old-fashioned flooding is a thing of the past. The roads dug up all over the city are a forerunner of bigger problems in the near future and are forcing residents to raise questions about the timely completion of projects. How will motorists and pedestrians deal with the trenches in every nook and corner of Karachi when they are flooded? There is an irony in these ongoing development projects; they are exacerbating the very problem they were meant to alleviate. The root cause of flooding, however, has been the blocking of the main outfalls that carry water from Karachi’s storm water drains and nullahs into the sea. These have been choked, narrowed or encroached upon for ill-planned projects or to reclaim land benefiting a few with political clout and financial resources to match it. The executive district officer for municipal services has claimed that the desilting of major nullahs and storm water drains is about to be completed and this year citizens will face minimum trouble due to rain. However, a source in the city government told Dawn that the old city areas might be flooded in case of heavy rains due to the continued encroachment on major sewerage drains. This issue needs to be addressed so that when the drainage projects are completed their effectiveness is not impaired. Meanwhile, the DHA project is scheduled to be completed by the end of this month — which seems unlikely anyway — but unfortunately the rains won’t wait for anyone.
Posted on: 17-July-2008
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Source: Dawn (http://www.dawn.com)
This problem has taken on a tangible form in the ‘city of lights’. Old-fashioned flooding is a thing of the past. The roads dug up all over the city are a forerunner of bigger problems in the near future and are forcing residents to raise questions about the timely completion of projects. How will motorists and pedestrians deal with the trenches in every nook and corner of Karachi when they are flooded? There is an irony in these ongoing development projects; they are exacerbating the very problem they were meant to alleviate. The root cause of flooding, however, has been the blocking of the main outfalls that carry water from Karachi’s storm water drains and nullahs into the sea. These have been choked, narrowed or encroached upon for ill-planned projects or to reclaim land benefiting a few with political clout and financial resources to match it. The executive district officer for municipal services has claimed that the desilting of major nullahs and storm water drains is about to be completed and this year citizens will face minimum trouble due to rain. However, a source in the city government told Dawn that the old city areas might be flooded in case of heavy rains due to the continued encroachment on major sewerage drains. This issue needs to be addressed so that when the drainage projects are completed their effectiveness is not impaired. Meanwhile, the DHA project is scheduled to be completed by the end of this month — which seems unlikely anyway — but unfortunately the rains won’t wait for anyone.
Posted on: 17-July-2008
Share:
Source: Dawn (http://www.dawn.com)
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