‘Encroachment of Lat drain caused flooding in Saadi Town’

Published September 11, 2017
Gul Hasan Kalmati speaks at the Awami Press Club in Memon Goth on Sunday.—Faysal Mujeeb / White Star
Gul Hasan Kalmati speaks at the Awami Press Club in Memon Goth on Sunday.—Faysal Mujeeb / White Star

KARACHI: Infrastructural development that has blocked the natural route of Lat rainwater drain led to flooding in Saadi Town. The district of Malir will lose its agricultural productivity completely in coming years owing to flawed development at DHA City and Bahria Town being built in the catchment area of several rainwater canals.

Historian and researcher Gul Hasan Kalmati shared these views at a programme held at a local press club in Memon Goth. The event was organised to educate journalists on Malir’s natural drains and discuss the factors which caused the recent flooding in the city.

“The media had erroneously reported that that Thado dam has broken down and caused flooding in Saadi town. It’s the water flowing in the Lat drain whose route has been illegally encroached that led to flooding,” he explained, adding that the dam was in a different direction and could never flood the town.

The Lat drain, he said, was formed by rainwater coming from Jamshoro. Earlier, it passed through the area where new Subzimandi stood today and later fell into the drain near the Natha Khan bridge after passing through Safoora Goth.

“It’s half of the rainwater turning to Saadi Town that causes flooding. The rest moves to a drain behind Malir Cantonment.”

Mr Kalmati said that builders, who have illegally occupied rainwater drains, fed false information to media persons so that no finger could be pointed at the real causes behind the flooding and their role.

“They want to hide their crime and feed false information to the media. Actually, it’s the government departments, the town planners related to infrastructural development which are responsible for the mess we find the city in today,” he said.

He urged journalists to acquaint themselves with Karachi’s rural areas by visiting these places, understand the natural routes of rainwater and get first-hand knowledge from locals and experts who had worked there.

As for Surjani Town, he said that it used to have a large rainwater drain that fell into the Lyari river. But it got completely encroached and today exited in the shape of a small sewage line. “Surjani is a hilly area and will always suffer flooding because of this encroached drain. Besides, the town lacks a proper system to dispose of waste being generated from cattle pens set up in the town and there is hardly any drive to clean the reduced-sized drain.”

According to Mr Kalmati, illegal occupation and encroachment of rainwater’s natural routes of discharge and massive excavation of sand and gravel along Malir riverbed haven’t only created numerous civic issues, including flooding, but has rendered fertile land barren.

“If you play with nature, then you will face its wrath. You have to give open routes to rainwater discharge and you have to allow some quantities of freshwater to go into the sea. If you interrupt this cycle, there will be serious consequences, which is happening in our case,” he said, adding that almost all drains in the city were illegally encroached and turned into sewage lines.

On the development of housing schemes like the DHA City and Bahria Town along Superhighway, he said that space for their infrastructural development had been created after illegally taking over natural routes of rainwater drains. This rainwater, he pointed out, also replenished aquifers.

“These hilly areas are the catchment area for several rainwater drains. This intervention would lead to increased seawater intrusion. Hundreds of acres of land have already gone barren and wells have become saline in the rural agricultural areas of Karachi owing to city’s flawed development.

“Land developers say they have purchased the land but the natural routes of canals and drains can’t be sold out,” he said, adding that detailed studies by independent experts should have been carried out to see how major housing schemes could be planned without disturbing natural discharge routes of rainwater.

Historically, he said, there were four rivers that passed through the city — Sukkan Nadi, Malir Nadi, Hub Nadi, Lyari Nadi and Thado Nadi — while there were 36 retention weirs, solely built to irrigate agricultural land, excluding Hub dam. Of them, five retention weirs were no longer operational. Two of the retention weirs were built in British period in Malir whereas the rest after 1980.

The Gujero drain named after a deh, he clarified, was erroneously referred to as ‘Gujjar nullah’. The Malir district alone had 100 small and big storm-water drains.

“The government has to make bold decisions if it really wants to save this city. The assembly should pass a resolution that natural routes of rainwater wouldn’t be disturbed and all drains on both sides should be cleared of encroachments,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2017

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