KARACHI, Feb 29: Residents of Lyari Town have urged the government to take up the sewerage problem in the old city area seriously and chalk out long-term measures to solve the same on permanent basis.

During a survey of different localities, they told Dawn that the centuries old drainage system in old city areas, particularly in Lyari Town, had almost collapsed because it could not cope with the load of the fast growing population.

Residents and their community leader maintain that the sewerage and sanitation network seems to have collapsed to the extent that it is no more beneficial to the population. All efforts by the civic agencies to revamp it under the new local body system have failed.

According to them, the system designated to meet the needs ofa much smaller population had often caused flooding in monsoon or any rainfall, paralyzing civil life completely, as was witnessed during the last monsoon.

Almost all the localities situated along the banks of Lyari River were submerged and people had to suffer a lot as civic agencies had failed to drain out stagnant water from affected areas for weeks.

It was also observed that mostly the storm drains covered with RCC slabs were not cleaned up regularly. At the same time, construction of shops, markets, huts and buildings raised over these drains had made cleaning work impossible.

The survey shows that open drains in old city areas were being used for dumping of garbage and other solid waste. There are many other factors contributing to the serious problem.

The unoccupied vast strips of land, left open till a decade back as natural passage for rain and flood water, have now fully been occupied by those who have raised multi-storey and high-rise structures all along the channels.

The haphazard construction on a large scale has been carried out without taking into consideration the fact that these would obstruct the flow storm water into river and could lead to disasterous consequences in the face of any natural calamity.

The shortcomings of the present system get exposed during monsoons which often causes flooding, and destruction of property besides disrupting all utility and other services, only to add to the miseries of the people already suffering on many counts.

The Lyari residents also expressed concern over poor condition of sanitation and hygiene in the entire town. They pointed out heaps of garbage elsewhere in many localities providing breeding ground to flies, mosquitoes and other insects which ultimately were leading to serious health problems.

They complained that the concerned municipal staff hardly paid attention to the problem. According to them, town officials maintain that they could not deliver effective services due to a shortage of funds, necessary equipment and essential staff.

Garbage collection and disposal is one of the serious problems faced by the people as well as the town administration as, over the years, most of the designated garbage dumping spots in the locality have vanished under the illegal structures raised by land-grabbers. This has resulted in the emergence heaps of garbage on roads and in streets. In most cases, such a dumping is a common sight within the ground floors of multi-storey buildings.

In many of the localities, garbage and waste material could be seen littered around unattended. One could hardly endure the foul smell from the garbage while passing through a any of the streets.