LAHORE: The Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF) Chairman Irfan Iqbal Sheikh has urged the government to improve the drainage system on war-footing as old sewerage system has been causing loss of billions of rupees annually to the trade and industry in monsoon season.
He expressed his deep concern as more than 21 people have died over the past 48 hours in the first spell of Monsoon rains. He asked the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) to make all the necessary arrangements to cope with the challenges during the monsoon season.
Weather forecasting department (Met Office) has predicted heavy rains during this monsoon season which has already set-off in the last week of June 2017. Heavy rain pours during last few days brought miseries to the life of general public including business community
In a joint statement issued Saturday, PIAF Chairman Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, Senior Vice-chairman Tanveer Ahmed Sufi and Vice-chairman Khawaja Shahzeb Akram said that sewerage system in the markets of Lahore is outdated and dysfunctional.
They said there was flood-like situation whenever there was a heavy downpour. They said that rainwater entered factories, go-downs and other business places, and damaged the items like machinery, furniture, trading goods and raw material thus loss of millions of rupees every year.
PIAF Chairman Irfan Sheikh expressed indignation over a lack of progress towards the installation of the modern warning system with regard to prior information about weather situation.
He suggested that low-lying areas should be identified in the city where machinery should be deployed for prompt drainage of rainwater, while suction machines should also be deployed in different areas of the city to keep the system smooth.
He demanded that emergency camps should be made operational to deal with any emergency in the city.
All camps should be provided with pumping stations, lifting machines and suction machines so that they can work around the clock in the areas of their deployment.
Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that improvement of drainage system should be the most important part of the development plan as the ageing sewerage system cannot keep up with the load and also causes huge loss to the business community in the rainy season.
He said that rainwater inundated main arteries of the city and suspended movement of imported goods from the port to the wholesale markets. They said that in many industrial units, rainwater accumulated and stopped almost all activities.
