ISLAMABAD: An infant was swept away and a woman killed when a house near a nullah was flooded during the rains in the early hours of Friday.

The incident happened in a katchi abadi called Faisal Colony in G-7/1 where Jamil Gill, a sweeper at the Capital Development Authority, lived with his family of five in a two-room house built near a nullah. Due to the heavy rains, the nullah filled up and flooded Gill’s house, also causing the roof to cave in.

Gill’s wife, 51-year-old Elizabeth was killed when the roof caved in while the couple’s two-month-old grandson who was sleeping with Elizabeth was swept away with the flood water.

Administrations of twin cities on high alert, more rains expected over next 48 hours

Police and rescue workers were able to retrieve Elizabeth’s body though her grandson could not be found by rescue workers, who also used sniffer dogs to find the infant.

The police said the house was built 10 to 12 feet below the road along the nullah which is why it flooded when the nullah overflowed.

According to the Pakistan Meteorology Department’s website, 75mm rainfall was recorded in and around Zero Point while 59mm of rain was recorded in Shamsabad and 39mm in Chaklala in three hours in Rawalpindi.

The Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) on the other hand said 75mm rainfall had been recorded in the garrison city at the flood warning system installed in Leh Nullah.

Warnings had been issued in the twin cities prior to the rains as the Met Office has predicted more rains in the next 48 hours. In Islamabad, a police officer said the capital administration had already issued an alert for taking precautionary measures as floods were expected during the monsoon season.

He said the areas that are downstream of the River Swan and River Korang, the katchi abadis along the nullahs in F-7, G-6, G-8, H-9 and I-9 were declared at risk of flooding.

All assistant commissioners and sub-divisional magistrates were asked to visit these areas and identify vulnerable locations in their sub-divisions. The police officer said relevant CDA directorates had also been directed to make necessary arrangements for dealing with accumulating water.

The officer said it had been decided to ask district administration to vacate houses and slums along nullahs in order to avoid another untoward incident.

Meanwhile in Rawalpindi, residents spent Friday morning in anticipation of a flood in Leh Nullah, the water level in which rose after the rains though the City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) had said it had installed hurdles for water in various nullahs and drains.

The sewer system in the downtown areas and near the Leh Nullah also gave away and water flooded into houses and shops.

Residents had to drain out water from their houses in many parts of the city including on Jamia Masjid Road, Kuri Road, Nadeem Colony, Javed Colony, Gawalmandi, Mohanpura, Nanakpura, Arjan Nagar, Amarpura and other areas, where a foot and half of water pooled into houses.

Power supply was also interrupted during the rains and was restored at around 9:00am.

“The provincial government was not able to avoid flooding in the garrison city though it says it spent millions of rupees on doing so. People placed their electric appliances on high shelves and cupboards to save them from the water,” said a resident of Javed Colony, Rahat Mehmood.

A resident of Jamia Masjid Road, Mohammad Rafique said though he lived far from the Leh Nullah, water had flooded into his home due to blocked drains. He said the sewerage system had fault and even a few millimetres of rain caused water to pool on roads and streets.

When asked, Wasa Managing Director Raja Shaukat Mehmood said the water in Leh Nullah had risen to 10 feet and 20 feet at the Gawalmandi Bridge which, he said, is dangerous.

A flood response team had been deployed at the nullah, he said, and that the water only rose to 10 feet as the nullah had been cleaned before the rains.

Water had not entered houses even in low-lying areas. He said faults in the sewerage system had led to water pooling into streets and roads in the downtown areas and that the system needed to be replaced.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2016