KARACHI: Cleaning of drains before monsoon demanded
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, May 23: Residents of Keamari and Lyari towns living along both sides of Mauripur Road and Lyari Expressway have urged the government to take effective measures to combat the flooding situation which could develop and create havoc in case monsoon starts.
They said that the last monsoons had exposed the system’s shortcomings when it caused severe flooding, as a result of which a number of houses were damaged, localities were submerged and services were disrupted.
They expressed apprehension that this year the monsoon could result in further devastation, as the level of Mauripur Road had been raised. They said that storm drains were blocked with garbage and no step had been taken for their maintenance and cleaning. Besides, misuse of open drains and encroachments built on them were cited as other major reasons of system’s failure.
They said despite tall claims of the authorities, the issue of cleaning these nullahs had never been taken seriously by the agencies concerned as partial cleaning of a few sections of a handful drains did not serve any purpose.
The residents urged the government to take urgent measures for cleaning of these nullahs, otherwise, monsoon rains would play havoc in the areas situated along the Lyari River and Mauripur Road.
A survey of these localities shows that most of these drains covered by concrete slabs were not regularly cleaned. Some shops and other structures had been constructed on these covered drains, which had made the cleaning work impossible. The open drains were being used for dumping garbage and other solid waste. Illegal settlements have sprung up along the main nullahs and the rivers which reduced their width since no efforts had been made to clean these nullahs accumulating silt.
