PESHAWAR, Feb 20: Author-ities closed the Warsak Canal as its underground portion passing through the Peshawar city breached near Namak Mandi bazaar, inundating roads and godowns in the locality on Thursday night.

A 1,650-foot-long underground portion of the Warsak canal, originating from the river Kabul siphons water through the Peshawar city. The canal was closed for one month for annual desilting.

Officials of the irrigation department said that the concrete wall of an exhaust outlet of the canal collapsed due to high pressure, which developed after water was released in the canal after the desilting campaign was completed.

Residents and shopkeepers panicked when the retaining wall burst and water submerged streets and also entered shops and godowns in the area. The local administration called out sanitation staff and also informed the irrigation department to control the situation and suspend the flow of water to avoid major mishap in the city.

An official of the irrigation department said that the retaining walls of the underground portion of the canal could not sustain the pressure which developed after water was released in the canal. It burst and flooded the entire locality causing damage to shops and godowns.

The irrigation department authorities closed the canal and installed pumps to drain out the water from the underground portion of the canal to initiate repair work.

According to the concerned officials the irrigation canals passing through the city, were in dire need of repair work, but the provincial government had stopped funds under this account head. They said that the government did not allocate funds for the maintenance and repair work in the annual budget.