July 25, 2003	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 24, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, July 24: Planners of the capital city and the municipal authorities of both Rawalpindi and Islamabad are responsible for environmental degradation and floods in Nullah Leh.

This was the viewpoint of most of the participants of a dialogue on ‘Nullah Leh: lessons of 2001 and the way forward’, organized by Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD) here on Thursday.

The dialogue was attended by officials of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), Rawalpindi Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA), representatives of Asian Development Bank, NGOs, victims of floods and Nullah Leh Expansion Project, environmental experts and residents of Rawalpindi city.

The old residents narrated the time when they used to take bath, catch fish and enjoy fresh water of the stream, which now had turned into a sewage drain called Nullah Leh. They said this stream, originating from Margalla Hills, was the main source of water for crops, water mills and animals. There were fields on both sides of the stream and all kinds of vegetables were grown there. They said sometimes there was flooding in the stream, but, losses were minimal as there was no population along its bank.

However, after the establishment of Islamabad and Rawalpindi cantonment, the population started growing and the construction of houses verged to the banks of Nullah Leh.

The in charge of Nullah Leh Expansion Project, Brig Habibur Rehman, briefed the participants on the progress of the project and said they had to face numerous problems while executing it.

He said the first problem was acquisition of land and second was removal of encroachments as several influentials had occupied government lands. He said physical execution was also a big problem as the city administration had not allowed shifting of mud during day time due to traffic on city roads.

Criticizing the contractors’ attitude, Brig Rehman said they worked very actively till the completion of excavation work, but later showed no interest. He admitted that there could be some selective treatment during payment of land compensation, but said several departments were involved in this procedure.

The chief officer of TMA, Aftab Chohan, claimed that with the expansion of Nullah Leh chances of floods had been reduced to a great extent.

When his attention was drawn to the fact that traders of Bohar Bazaar and residents of low-lying areas had suffered huge losses in the recent rains, he said this was not because of Nullah Leh, but due to choked underground drains that carried rainwater to Leh.

Mr Chohan said probably nothing could be done in this regard as the TMA had been facing difficulties in cleaning these under- ground drains with very few openings.

He also briefed the participants on the arrangements of the TMA to deal with any flood situation. He said the administration was acquiring 500 acres of land near Adiala for dumping site. Moreover, he said, the administration had already purchased 600 kanals near Rawat and various proposals to utilize the space were under consideration.

He said negotiations were being held with a California-based organization, which was ready to generate power from solid waste.

Fayyaz Baqir of Global Environment Facility stressed the need for involving local population while preparing any development project.

“Instead of seeking foreign loans for cleaning our drains, we must involve community and people should be educated about the hazards of dumping waste in Leh,” he said.

Sarwar Bari of Pattan Development Organization, in his presentation, asked the government and civil society organizations to pay attention towards mitigation and rehabilitation of flood victims, instead of concentrating only on rescue and relief operations. He criticized the government for removing kutchi abadis in the name of development. “These people are not living there by choice. It is the responsibility of the state to provide them shelter,” he added.

Daanish Mustafa of South Florida University in his presentation quoted a survey conducted recently in different localities in which most of the people had termed solid waste as number one problem in Leh than floods.

He suggested mapping of 100-year flood plan, removal of encroachments with just compensation, ecological restoration of watershed and creation of recreation areas in flood plan, safe disposal of solid and liquid waste outside of the plan and effective flood warning system.

Former MD Wasa and coordinator for Leh Expansion plan Yasir Ahmed Gauhar said in the second phase of the project the main focus would be on sewerage treatment.

Fawad Khan of the WB said people generally praised the CDA for planning a good drainage system as rainwater did not stay on roads for long.

He said: “Have these people ever thought where this rainwater goes within 15 minutes?”

The problems of floods and sanitation had aggravated since the setting up of Islamabad, he added.

Mazhar Hussain, the DG environment CDA, conceded that Islamabad was causing environmental degradation, but held rapid population growth responsible for this. He said it would be wrong to blame only the CDA as other stakeholders were equally responsible. He said when the master plan for Islamabad was prepared, Rawalpindi was declared a twin city and it was also to be developed along with the capital. However, it could not happen, he added.