Hyderabad:
Despite a new monsoon emission by the meteorological department from July 15, no practical measure has yet been taken to clean rainwater drains, sewer pipes or gutters through Hyderabad. The main drains passing through densely populated areas remain stifled with waste, and the protection walls broken or missing around these sewers have not been repaired – aroused increasing concern among citizens.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department had officially warned the Sindh government about the next rain system, after which high -level meetings took place for commissioners, assistant commissioners and local municipal agencies to prepare potential urban floods. A circular was also published by the Department of Local Governments of the Sindh on July 10, instructing municipal organizations, notably the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and various municipal companies in the city to take precautionary measures. However, more than 48 hours have passed since the emission of the letter, and no service has started preparations at ground level.
Several major sewers – including the long section of the Liaquat colony and the Sattar Shah cemetery at the Memon Chowk and Tando Yusuf hospital – serve as the main outing for wastewater for many congestioned districts. Other critical drains cross the old vegetable market and the road to Latifabad airport. All these elements are now strongly obstructed with waste insofar as their original shape is hardly recognizable. In some places, thick layers of waste have been formed on the sewers and children can be seen on the markets.
The protective walls around these sewers are broken at many points. In some places, the water level in the drain is equal to the surface of the road, which leads to previous incidents of vehicles and children falling. On May 17 of this year, a seven -year -old boy, Raheel Afzal, fell into an open drain near the old vegetable market and drowned. Similarly, on June 11, two girls – Rabeel, 10 and Parisha, 8 years old – fell into a drain discovered in the region of Jani Shah Mohalla. Rabeel tragically lost his life.
Despite such tragedies, neither the Hyderabad administration, the Corporation Municipal, nor the respective TMAs (city administrations of the city) launched repairs on the damaged protective walls of these dangerous drains. The committees of the unions concerned also remain silent spectators, despite the reception of Rs 1.2 million per month in government subsidies – of which only a portion is used for wages and public service bills, while the rest remains unused for the needs of the urgent community such as maintenance of drainage. Ironically, each year, the Sindh government and local organizations have emergency meetings and announces rain preparation plans, the allocation of millions of rupees in ruptures. In some places, the superficial cleaning of drainage is carried out for advertising.
However, the reality is that no drain has been cleaned enough to make a visible difference in the flow of water. Alert to the false bills are subject to the cleaning of drains each year, and public funds are diverted – but no institution or bureaucrat has never been held responsible for this recurring negligence.
