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Monsoon-2008 looks similar to rains of 2007

* Low-lying areas in 18 towns are still danger zones as before
* No towns has rain gauges to measure actual downpour

By Irfan Aligi

KARACHI: City District Government Karachi (CDGK) has imposed rain emergency in the city in a bid to prevent the emergence of problems such as accumulation of rainwater, choking of sewerage lines, health-related emergencies and human casualties.

The CDGK central operation centre at Civic Centre, which operates under the Executive District Officer Municipal Services (EDOMS), will be monitoring 18 towns of the city. According to CDGK sources, Town Municipal Officers (TMOs) and Town Officers Infrastructure (TOIS) will be coordinating with the EDOMS through the CDGK Helpline 134 and 16 for electricity, water, telephone, gas and fire complaints.

“The people remember the havoc wreaked in the city during the monsoon season of 2007. The gusty winds uprooted titanic billboards and claimed many precious lives, while choked sewerage lines caused heavy accumulation and overflowing of rainwater. Due to the failure of the authorities to ensure the clearing of rainwater, many DHA and Clifton residents were forced to stay at home for many days,” said the sources.

The sources informed that, although, the CDGK had taken several preventive measures to prevent a repeat of 2007 it seems that these too will not satisfy the citizens. The rainfall on July 30 was only a preview of things to come but that tested the nerves of the concerned authorities.

According to the sources, the rainfall that lasted for a matter of minutes had caused accumulation of rainwater in various places in 11 out of 18 towns of the city. The areas that had to be de-watered included one in New Karachi Town UC-8, three in Orangi Town UC-1 and 13, one in Saddar Town UC-3, one in SITE Town UC-3, seven in Landhi Town UC-2, 5, 6, 7 and 12, one in Korangi Town UC-8, three in Lyari Town UC-1, 4 and 5, one in Jamshed Town UC-9, one in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town UC-13, one in Malir Town UC-1 and four in Bin Qasim Town UC-1, 2, 4 and 5.

The accumulation was because the areas are low lying. Since the drainage system and roads of the city are comparatively higher than houses, the situation is impossible to address immediately and a project to lower the sewerage and road levels requires years of planning and huge investments, the sources commented.

They further informed that the meteorology department had frequently approached the Revenue EDO for the installation of rain gauges in all 18 towns but to no avail. An officer of the Sindh Meteorological Department told Daily Times that cost of one rain gauge is approximately Rs 12,000, with the installation costs being around Rs 8,000. However, the meteorological department provides free of cost installation and has installed rain gauges in 104 talukas of Sindh but has only installed a few gauges in Karachi, at the PAF Base Faisal, PAF Base Masroor and Karachi University. “This lack of gauges is the major reason why we do not have records of the amount of rainfall in Karachi last year and during past 60 years,” said the officer.

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