LAHORE: A study conducted for the standardisation of roads infrastructure in the Lahore city district has identified various issues causing urban flooding and wastewater accumulation.
The study is currently under compilation process after teams of the Traffic Engineering & Transport Planning Agency (Tepa) concluded exhaustive field visits to survey several roads to identify issues and give recommendations.
A report would soon be presented to the government for approval to formulate further strategies and introduce necessary legislation to avert such issues in the future, Dawn has learnt.
According to a document, the mandate of the project was to survey the city’s roads and infrastructure profile, conduct analysis for the improvement of existing infrastructure, formulate legislative framework for the integration and digitisation of the road infrastructure. During the survey, the teams found that the city has inconsistent level of roads, poor road condition (allegator cracks etc), inconsistent service roads in front of commercial areas and greenbelts level, lack of plinth level control with unplanned and unregulated development.
Tepa’s field study reveals inconsistent road levels, service roads and greenbelts, unplanned and unregulated development
The study divided the roads into two categories, major and minor arteries, based on their width, rows, buildings, length etc. The major arteries surveyed included the Ferozepur Road, Canal Road, Raiwind Road, Khayaban-e-Firdausi (Johar town), Khayaban-e-Jinnah, Pine Avenue, Lower Mall, Mall Road, Multan Road, Outer Circular Road, GT Road, Amjad Chaudhry Road, Aziz Bhatti Road, Peco Road, Maulana Shaukat Ali Road, Ravi Road, Saggian Bypass Road and Lahore-Sheikhupura Road.
While the small arteries included Khayaban-e-Jinnah (DHA), Walton Road, Jail Road, Shabbir Usmani Road, Garden Town Main Boulevard, Zarar Shaheed Road, Allama Iqbal Road, Shahrah Nazria Pakistan, Main Boulevard LDA Avenue-1, College Road, Allama Iqbal Road, New Defence Road, Kahna Kacha Road, Canal Road (Mohlanwal road), Gulberg Main Boulevard and Barki Road.
The teams checked the ground and road levels, depressions, greenbelts level, buildings plinth levels among other indicators on these roads. The levels were measured via the gauge installed at the University of Engineering & Technology (UET) to find the above mean sea level. The scope of work also included GPS data and pictorial evidence collection, digitisation of assets and issues, integration of geo database, segment-wise distribution of issues and proposed interventions.
The study highlighted several spots where the road level was not in line with the required level and also pointed out several points on roads having potholes, thus leading to traffic congestions and accidents. All such spots have been linked with the GIS system.
The report recommended fixing the existing road levels and maintain the levels during any road intervention / rehabilitation work. Under its recommendations, the departments concerned — LDA, Tepa, Wasa, CBD, C&W, Ruda etc, would be liable to maintain the road infrastructure as per the outcome of the study. Under the control of road profile, geometry & signage, it has been recommended that NOC from Tepa had to be obtained by the relevant civic agency prior to initiation of any work related to repair / maintenance and laying asphalt on the roads. This recommendation aims at regulating the road infrastructure, as, presently, no one takes responsibility in this regard. The study wants LDA, MCL and other civic agencies concerned to regulate the plinth level in true letter and spirit. The study further recommends to develop and operate a dashboard to save the data and redress public problems, establish a control room / centre at Tepa headquarters for centralised monitoring of road infrastructure, form field monitoring squads. It also suggests the government to declare and notify Tepa as Road Infrastructure Regulatory Agency (RIRA).
To deal with the speedy drainage of the stormwater, the study wants Wasa to vet the new projects related to disposal of the stormwater. “For this, Wasa also needs to develop a dedicated stormwater drainage system. Moreover, the PHA also needs to lower the level of greenbelts from road level so as to divert the accumulated water towards greenbelts,” the study recommends.
According to Housing, Urban Development and Public Health Engineering Department, the study will help it put things in order and save the infrastructure on which the civic agencies use to spend huge money time to time. “It will greatly help us to save Lahore from urban flooding, accumulation of wastewater (sewage water) that are badly hitting our infrastructure,” said the department’s secretary retired Capt Noorul Amin Mengal while talking to Dawn.
He said the study would further help in resolving similar issues in other cities of Punjab, especially Gujrat and Gujranwala where the recent rains and flooding impacted the infrastructure and made the routine life miserable for citizens.
Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2025
