RAWALPINDI: Every year, the Punjab government spends over Rs25 million on the dredging of Leh Nullah ahead of the monsoon season but the waterway overflows and floods low-lying areas.

During the last 10 years, two projects were launched to check flooding in the nullah but it could not be implemented for want of a political will.

A huge amount was also spent on the preparation of the PC-I but work could not be started on the project.

In 2017, the federal government of the PML-N decided to change the route of Leh Nullah.

According to the plan, the route would bypass the thickly-populated residential areas and discharge into Soan River.

Besides, sewage from Islamabad would be drained into Soan River through a new sewerage system which would be laid along Islamabad Expressway.

At present, the sewage from Islamabad discharges into Leh Nullah at Katarian bridge.

The 23-km-long nullah from New Kattarian to Soan River passes through thickly-populated residential areas of Rawalpindi city

The federal government had promised Rs16 billion for the project and informed the provincial government that the amount would be released in installments in three years.

The 23-km-long Leh Nullah from New Kattarian to Soan River passes through thickly-populated residential areas of Rawalpindi city. All nullahs of Islamabad discharge into Leh Nullah at I.J. Principal Road where it enters the garrison city.

A senior official of the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) told Dawn that the federal government had earmarked Rs57 billion for the national flood plan and it would release Rs16 billion for the Leh Nullah flood channel.

He said the Federal Flood Commission had also asked the Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee to prepare the PC-I. But like many other projects, this one is also faced with the shortage of funds.

During the regime of Pervez Musharraf, the Leh Nullah expressway project was launched in 2006 under which an expressway was to be constructed from Moti Mahal to 9th Avenue. The project worth Rs20 billion was contracted to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) which started work on it.

The construction of a channel to bring sewage to the Adiala sewage treatment plant was also a part of the project. The sewage would be treated and used for agriculture purposes.

However, work on the expressway was stopped by the PML-N Punjab government in 2008.

After the 2018 general elections, the Leh expressway project has been revived but it is still on papers. The RDA has brought out the files so that a briefing would be prepared for the new government on how to restart the project and make a fresh PC-I.

Though federal minister Sheikh Rashid has promised to restart the work, the provincial government is still silent on it.

Some experts are against the project as they are of the opinion that there is no need to launch the project as it would be wastage of funds.

Attique Ahmed, a civil engineer, told Dawn that the Leh expressway project and flood channel was a political project.

“There are two main problems in the project. Making roads on both sides will end the water recharge source of the Rawalpindi city. At present, the Leh Nullah is the main source of groundwater recharge source and after making cemented nullah and roads this source will cease to exist.”

Secondly, he said, the cost would be much higher and it would not provide any benefit to the citizens. He said there was a need to acquire more than 1,000 kanals on both sides of the nullah which would be an additional burden on the national exchequer.

RDA Director General Rana Akbar Hayat told Dawn that there was no formal directive for the start of the project but the RDA was ready if the government showed its interest.

He claimed that experts had declared the project as the best solution to overcome the traffic congestion and environment pollution.

He said the project would also resolve the issue of flooding in the monsoon.

“During the last 10 years, the government failed to solve the problem of Leh Nullah,” said former district nazim Raja Tariq Mehboob Kiani.

He said in 2001 the city district government had acquired the land along the Leh Nullah but due to the lack of planning encroachments increased along the nullah which reduced its width.

He said there was a need to start work to find a solution to the flooding issue. He said by the next monsoon, the government should finalise its plan.

When contacted, PML-N former MNA Malik Shakil Awan said the Leh expressway and flood channel was not an ideal project and that was why the previous Punjab government stopped the work on it.

He said Rs5 billion had been spent on the project in 2007 without any reason. If the government started the project it would be a burden on the taxpayers.

“We will not resist the project but the PTI government itself is not interested in it,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2018