Rescue-1122 on Monday expressed fear of flash-flood in low lying areas of the city if desilting and cleansing of Nullah Leh tributaries was not completed before advent of the monsoon season starting from June 15.
The Rescue-1122 conveyed its concerns to the Rawalpindi commissioner, district coordination officer and Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) MD in writing, suggesting immediate measures by the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) and Solid Waste Management Company (SWMC) to clear link nullahs falling in the Leh to avoid any emergency in the upcoming monsoon season.
Rescue-1122 District Emergency Officer Dr Abdul Rehman said they carried out a detailed survey of 11 nullahs passing through different localities of the city and found them full of filth and garbage, which were a potential threat of flood in low-laying areas.
“We have informed the concerned quarters about present state of affairs and suggested required measures to avoid flood in the monsoon season,” he said.
He said Rescue-1122’s fully equipped control room would start functioning from June 1 to monitor water level in the Leh tributaries from Katarian to River Sawan to tackle any emergency.
During the survey, he said, flood alarming system installed at the link nullahs were also inspected by a technical team and found them in fully working condition.
When contacted, sources in WASA said that a comprehensive month-long plan was underway for scour of Leh and its tributaries since May 20, which would hopefully complete by June 20.
Elaborating, they said, the plan included annual dredging and de-silting of Leh, cleaning of all sewerage network falling in WASA’s jurisdiction, inspection of machinery, equipment and constituting of monsoon response teams.
They said Leh and its tributaries were the major drainage system through which the rain water of Islamabad and Rawalpindi was being discharged in the River Suan.
Highlighting importance of the dredging and de-silting to avert flooding in low-lying areas all along the Leh, they expressed the confidence that the entire process of Leh’s scour would be completed before the advent of monsoon rains.
