KARACHI: The recently carpeted Jamaluddin Afghani Road was closed for traffic on Tuesday after it developed a crater due to a burst in the 16-inch sewage pipe underneath it that has flooded the two-way road since late Sunday night.

The 27-inch crater was caused by the burst in the pipe the previous day, said officials who reached the site by Tuesday afternoon.

The crater in the road appeared by 10:30am, said one commuter, Mohammad Mohib.

By the time tankers of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board reached the area to pump the water out, the two lanes had already been flooded. As the sewage was being pumped out by KWSB workers, the area people, especially shop owners, complained of getting a late response from the authorities calling it the main cause of damage to the road as well as to their business.

“This road was built a month back,” said Yasir Arafat, the owner of a repair parts shop while standing near the crater. A store owner, Mohammad Hanif, said: “This [damage] could have been averted if the complaint centre at the KWSB had taken our phone calls two nights before.” The entire lane in the middle of what is known as Medicam Chowrangi and Singer Chowrangi was flooded with sewage. He pointed out various manholes overflowing with sewage for the past two days. From time to time, either a rickshaw or a car would get stuck in the middle of the road causing traffic jams.

DMC East administrator Rehmatullah Sheikh, who appeared at the site by 3:30pm, said the “issue [overflowing sewage] has been going on for some time now. We’re constantly in touch with the KWSB and will make sure that the water is pumped out by tonight.”

This is the third such incident of sewage pipe burst in the city within the past one week that affected road traffic. Earlier, overflowing sewage flooded Lucky Star, Saddar and Tipu Sultan Road.

Speaking about the occurrences, a KWSB spokesperson said it was a longstanding issue. “The city is growing vertically and that expansion is causing an overload on sewage lines. The pipelines are already operating on a surcharge. At the same time, lack of maintenance has reduced the capacity of the pipelines that’s why one hears of similar incidents occurring in different neighbourhoods or arteries of the city.”

He said that the ministers concerned met the KWSB officials and the issue “might be resolved within the next 24 hours”.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2016