KARACHI, Dec 26: Work has begun on a 2.8km long storm-water drain, Clifton Bridge to Nehr-i-Khayam under Tameer-i-Karachi Programme. The project costing around Rs165 million will be completed in four months.
With the completion of the project the lingering issue of storm-water drainage system of Clifton, Bath Island and adjoining areas will be resolved for 100 years.
This was stated by City Nazim Mustafa Kamal accompanied by the KWSB additional vice-chairman MPA Imamuddin Shehzad, KWSB Managing Director Brigadier Iftikhar Haider, while reviewing the pace of work of pre-cast concrete channels of the storm-water drain being manufactured by a Chinese firm Sino Hydro Corporation at a vacant plot, opposite Clifton beach.
“In fact, the pre-cast concrete channels are being prepared at a vacant plot and not at the project’s site merely to avoid hindrance to vehicular traffic and inconvenience to general public,” he said adding that work of placing pre-cast conduits of the storm-water drain on both sides of Khayaban-i-Iqbal will be undertaken during nights.
Referring to the problems faced by Clifton residents and its adjoining localities during recent rains, he regretted that although no proper storm-water system existed for these localities, no one earlier had bothered to lay a modern storm-water drainage system.
“We not only drained out rainwater from the roads and houses of these localities but immediately designed a storm-water drainage system not only for those localities of Clifton which fall under the jurisdiction of the city government but also for Clifton’s blocks 8 and 9 which come under the limits of cantonment board,” he added.
Reiterating that the storm-water drain being constructed nowadays will exclusively be used for draining out rainwater into sea, he exhorted the officials of cantonment board concerned to lay a separate sewage system for those blocks of Clifton which fall under its jurisdiction so that sewage water might not enter into the storm-water drain.
Deploring that storm-water drainage system did not exist at most of major thoroughfares of the city, Mr Kamal said that it had now been made mandatory to provide storm-water drains at all roads, flyovers, underpasses and bridges being constructed by the city government.
In this regard, he mentioned that a storm-water drainage system was being provided all along the I I Chundrigar Road which is being reconstructed.
Highlighting the salient features of the Clifton’s storm-water drainage system which will run on both sides of Khayaban-i-Iqbal, KWSB MD Brig Iftikhar Haider said that the proposed length of the Western drains would be 1,337 meters and 1,478 meters that of Eastern drains.
The pre-cast concrete channels of cross section measuring 1.5 meter into 1.0 meter and 3.0 meter in length with cover slabs have been proposed, besides the work also includes construction of road culverts, reconstruction of footpaths to be affected by the works, he added.
