CHAKWAL, Sept 2: The torrential rain which lashed Chakwal on Monday left all major roads and low-lying areas in the city flooded with rainwater, exposing the performance of the district administration and the elected representatives.

And this has not happened for the first time rather such kind of situation is witnessed whenever it rains as the city neither has any proper sewerage system nor its roads have been repaired for a long time.

Besides, maintenance of the agriculture department offices on the Talagang Road, one of the busiest arteries of the city, further adds to the miseries of the commuters. The offices could not be repaired for the last many years on the pretext of financial crunch.

The heavy rain started at 1:40pm and lasted till 4pm. Traffic got stuck on Talagang and Jhelum roads. Both the roads were heavily flooded and water entered into shops and offices on both sides of the passageways.

The offices of agriculture department, provincial building department and the highway department got inundated with the rainwater. “Our office urgently needs maintenance but we do not have a single penny,” complained an official of the agriculture department. He added that rainwater added to their miseries.

It may be noted that the city experiences a flood-like situation whenever it rains due to the absence of a proper sewerage system.

In June 2007, the then district government headed by Sardar Ghulam Abbas had planned to launch a project to improve the sewerage and sanitation system in the city.

The Rs184.798 million ‘Urban Sewerage Scheme Chakwal City’ was to be completed in two years. The public health department was given the task to complete the project within the stipulated time. However, the project still remains incomplete.

Documents obtained by Dawn showed that under the project pipes of different sizes were to be laid in the city besides construction of storm channels.

However, so far hardly 50 per cent work on the project has been completed. Some of the pipes still lie on roads and many of them have been stolen.

Due to the poor sewerage system, drains in the city remain choked and foul smell always emanates from them. Tahe situation worsens when it rains. The streets and major roads get flooded.

“We are not getting funds regularly,” said an official of the public health department. He added that funds were being released in installments. “If the pace of work remains at the current pace, the project will not be completed even after the end of this year,” he added.

Former District Nazim Sardar Ghulam Abbas said he had planned to put in place a proper sewerage system. “It seems that serving the citizens is not the priority of the present elected representatives.

The whole politics now runs around police stations and courts,” he observed. He added that he had launched the mega project after consulting all the stakeholders.

When contacted, Bashir Bhatti, the executive engineering of the public health department, said his department was trying its best to complete the project.

“We are facing some financial problems but I hope that the project will be completed very soon,” he maintained.