Forecast rain nears, drains stay choked

Express Tribune

15 hours ago

Despite a fresh monsoon spell forecast by the Meteorological Department from July 15, no practical steps have yet been taken to clean stormwater drains, sewer lines, or gutters across Hyderabad. The main drains passing through densely populated areas remain choked with garbage, and broken or missing protective walls around these drains have not been repaired — sparking growing concern among citizens.
Pakistan Meteorological Department had officially warned the Sindh government about the upcoming rain system, after which high-level meetings were held instructing commissioners, deputy commissioners, and local municipal agencies to prepare for potential urban flooding. A circular was also issued by the Sindh Local Government Department on July 10, instructing municipal bodies including the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and various town municipal corporations to take precautionary measures. However, more than 48 hours have passed since the issuance of the letter, and not a single department has begun ground-level preparations.
Several major drains — including the long stretch from Liaquat Colony and Sattar Shah Graveyard to Memon Hospital Chowk and Tando Yusuf — serve as the primary outlet for sewage from many congested neighborhoods. Other critical drains run through the old vegetable market and Latifabad Airport Road. All of these are now heavily clogged with waste to the extent that their original form is barely recognizable. At some locations, thick layers of garbage have formed over the drains, and children can be seen walking over them obliviously.
The protective walls around these drains are broken at many points. In some places, the water level in the drain is equal to the road surface, resulting in past incidents of vehicles and children falling in. On May 17 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 — 10-year-old Rabeel and 8-year-old Parisha — fell into an uncovered drain in the Jani Shah Mohalla area. Rabeel tragically lost her life.
Despite such tragedies, neither the Hyderabad administration, nor the municipal corporation, nor the respective TMAs (Town Municipal Administrations) have initiated repairs on the damaged protective walls of these dangerous drains. The concerned Union Committees, too, remain silent spectators, despite receiving Rs 1.2 million monthly in government grants — out of which only a portion is used for salaries and utility bills, while the rest remains unutilized for urgent community needs like drain maintenance.Ironically, every year, the Sindh government and local bodies hold emergency meetings and announce rain preparedness plans, allocating millions of rupees in budget. In some places, superficial drain cleaning is carried out for the sake of publicity.
However, the reality is that not a single drain has been cleaned thoroughly enough to make a visible difference in water flow. Allegedly, fake bills are submitted under the guise of drain cleaning each year, and public funds are misappropriated — yet no institution or bureaucrat has ever been held accountable for this recurring negligence.