KARACHI, Aug 1: Life in the formerly south and west districts of Karachi has badly been crippled by the current spells of rain as a major part of Lyari and Keamari towns have been flooded, exposing the fragility of the entire civic system.
Rainwater and sewage has virtually submerged much of Lyari town area creating stinking condition all around and making its inhabitants life miserable.
In some localities, increased pressure in the sewerage lines due to the additional flow of rainwater has caused rupture of the conduits. As a result, sewage has spread on several roads and streets.
Two days of rains have played havoc with the narrow lanes of UCs Baghdadi, Shah Beg and Daryabad areas.
In Keamari town, the situation is even grave. Rainwater has accumulated in most houses in Kaka Village and Budini towns and the town nazim had to rush to these villages to join in peoples’ voluntarily efforts to pump out the same.
The worst-affected areas in Lyari town include Shah Latif Bhittai Road, Ahmed Shah Bukhari Road, Slaughter House Road, Niazi Chowk, Fida Husain Shaikha Road, Karabhai Karimji Road, D. D. Chaudhry Road, Baloch Para and Ali Mohammad Mohalla.
A resident of Baghdadi area said that sewerage system in the locality has already gone obsolete. With the first spell of current monsoon, the system broke down and sewage started making its way into houses and shops.
During a visit to Baghdadi’s Bombassa Street, this reporter saw most of the affected families busy flushing out sewage and rainwater from their houses and lanes.
Pointing out that authorities concerned were taking no interest in resolving their problems, they said that the miseries created by unhygienic conditions, water and sewerage system and other civic services were growing day by day.
The nazims and naib nazims of the two towns also accuse the city government of not cooperating with them in this regard.
Area people were of the view that the city government and town administrations should make joint efforts to mitigate the sufferings of the affected people now when these localities of poor and helpless people had been devastated by the rain. They said the stagnant sewage and rainwater was posing a serious threat to the health of local residents.
In some areas, rainwater has accumulated due to choked gutters. Conditions along Bombassa Street and Fida Husain
Shaikha Road have turned worse due to the overflowing sewage from gutters. Wide and deep potholes have developed on Shah Latif Bhittai Road, Tannery Road, Juna Kumharwara Road and other busy arteries, exposing the relevant authorities’ claim of having built solid and lasting roads.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Haroon of Mubarak Village has confirmed that the water storage dam built in the village recently has collapsed washing away many houses. The small fishermen village is located in Hawkesbay in the jurisdiction of Keamari Town. Mr Haroon called for an inquiry into the collapse of the newly built dam.
KARACHI, Aug 1: Life in the formerly south and west districts of Karachi has badly been crippled by the current spells of rain as a major part of Lyari and Keamari towns have been flooded, exposing the fragility of the entire civic system.
