RAWALPINDI, May 13: Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) has started desilting Nullahs and their tributaries in the city ahead of monsoon season to prevent flooding.

However, the administration is facing great difficulties in acquiring sanitary staff from union councils (UCs) for the purpose.

The big UCs were to spare two workers, while the smaller ones had been asked to provide one worker each from the sanitary staff.

So far, the sources said, the TMA had managed to get only 18 workers from 46 union councils in the city. The UCs are reluctant to release the workers, fearing that the cleanliness work in their areas would be affected. “How can we spare workers for the job, when we have not been provided enough sanitary staff,” a UC Nazim complained.

The TMA has, however, started the desilting job with the limited number of workers available. “We have desilted Nullahs and tributaries in Eidgah graveyard area and Kashmir Colony, while work on tributary No. 1 in Asghar Mall Scheme is underway,” an administration official said.

The work would be completed by the end of the current month, he said.