RAWALPINDI: The first rainfall of the monsoon season on Tuesday wrecked havoc in the garrison city killing 11 people, flooding Leh Nullah and causing widespread damage to gas, electricity and water supply lines.

Of the 11 victims, seven were reported killed in Westridge and Race Course areas.

This was the first time that a nullah passing through Westridge claimed so many lives and many attributed it to the encroachments and illegal construction along the nullah. Many low-lying areas were flooded and rainwater entered homes.

A university student Zulfiqar Ali, 23, was travelling on a motorcycle when he slipped and fell into the nullah in Niazi Town Race Course area and was swept away by the current. His body was later recovered from the water and handed over to his parents.

A nullah in Westridge swelled, killing seven

Water flows over a pedestrian bridge in a sector in Islamabad. — Photos by Online, INP, Tanveer Shahzad and Ishaque Chaudhry

In Jan Colony, a physically challenged nine-year-old girl, Raheela Bibi, was killed when rainwater gushed into the house. Station House Officer Race Course Tariq Gondal told Dawn the girl was downstairs and the parents on the upper floor, when water started entering the house. They were unable to save her and rescue workers recovered the body.

Arshad Mehmood, 45, a mason Kamran and driver Atif Anis were killed trying to demolish a boundary wall which was making rainwater accumulate in their house on Peshawar Road.

The police said Arshad Mehmood’s car was also swept away by the rainwater, and later recovered from a distance.

Noorul Ain, 14, and her grandfather Malik Atta, 65, in Lane 5 on Peshawar Road were killed when rainwater entered their house and caused a wall to collapse.

In Rawalpindi and a view of heavy rain in Islamabad. — Photos by Online, INP, Tanveer Shahzad and Ishaque Chaudhry

Two young men - Hammad, 15, and Rehman, 18, drowned in the nullah near Railway Carriage Factory. The bodies were recovered by Rescue 1122 staff and shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital.

Rescue workers also recovered another body of a young man from the nullah. The victim, who was yet to be identified, was wearing jeans and black boots. No identification documentation was found on the body, which was shifted to the DHQ Hospital.

Ibrar Hussain, 36, a resident of Gulshanabad, was killed after the roof of his house collapsed early in the morning.

The flooding in Leh Nullah, following the heavy downpour, created problems for the residents of low-lying areas of the garrison city who spent an anxious day and night trying to get the water out of their homes.

The Met Office recorded 156 millimetre rain at Golra, 71mm at Zero Point, 117 at Bokra, 97 at Saidpur, 12mm at Shamsabad and 5mm at Chaklala. More rain is predicted in the coming days.

“The amount of rain was low in the garrison city but the water level in Leh Nullah rose as the catchment area received heavy rainfall,” Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) Managing Director Raja Shaukat Mehmood told Dawn.

Residents wade through rainwater accumulated in Lane 4, Peshawar Road — Photos by Online, INP, Tanveer Shahzad and Ishaque Chaudhry

“The water level in Leh Nullah at New Katarian was recorded at 23.4 feet and 19 feet at Gawalmandi. The dangerous level is 22 feet,” he said.

Mr Mehmood said Wasa had put officials on high alert and they are preparing to deal with any emergency.

“Sirens were sounded to let people know about the rising water levels. All staff members remained on site to evacuate people,” he said.

Meanwhile, people in low-lying areas spent the day trying to get the water out of their homes. Rainwater entered the District Environment Offices in the Cantonment Area and in the Radio Pakistan building.

District Officer Environment Mohammad Nawaz told Dawn that three feet of water entered the office and destroyed a lot of equipment.

“Wasa and Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) were contacted to get the water out,” he said.

The rains yet again exposed the poor performance of the local administration. The health department is yet to establish medical camps in the low-lying areas which were supposed to be set up by July 1.

“The incomplete work on the Moti MAhal Bridge obstructed the flow of water in the Leh Nullah. If the work was completed in time, the Nullah would not have been flooded,” a Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) official told Dawn.

The officer alleged that the metro bus contractor working from Saddar to Committee Chowk dumped construction material in Leh Nullah contributing to the flooding.

Similarly, the Rawal Town Municipal Administration (RTMA) which claims to have issued notices to over 300 houses, has not managed to remove illegal construction over the years.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2015

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