ISLAMABAD: With the monsoon season approaching its peak, civic authorities and disaster management agencies are worried about a new threat – urban flooding – that may pose a danger to various cities across the country, as well as wreaking havoc in many localities of the federal capital.

The Met Office has highlighted the risk of urban flooding repeatedly in its advisories, suggesting that the authorities ensure that all the waterways are clear so that rainwater can be drained unhindered.

“Though it is not our domain, but we have suggested that the relevant authorities should ensure that the sewage system and the storm drains are cleaned. With respect to Islamabad, there is a serious need to keep a check on river beds too, as the bulk of the rainwater flows into the rivers around the twin cities,” said Dr Ghulam Rasool, director general of the Pakistan Metrological Department.

Urban-flooding is a new phenomenon being faced by cities globally, mainly due to congested construction. But in Islamabad, it is the outlying areas that are more prone to urban flooding.

Encroachments on riverine area along capital’s outskirts likely to flood as water level rises

The three traditional types of floods include flash flooding, coastal floods and riverine floods. However, urban-flooding refers to a situation where the water accumulating in a city after heavy rainfall is unable to flow out, mostly due to faulty drainage systems.

“The most serious threat in Islamabad will be faced by the areas along the peripheries of the capital, where mushroom growth is being witnessed; even the river beds of the Korang and Soan have not been spared,” a Met official said.

The Soan River originates from the remote Ban area in Murree Tehsil and flows down towards Islamabad and onwards into Rawalpindi district, flowing into the Indus River near Mianwali.

Similarly, the Korang River originates from a conjunction of small streams in the Murree hills. This mid-level stream is the main source of water for the Rawal Lake and stretches across the Islamabad Expressway between Korang Town and Judicial Colony enters the Lohi Bher Wildlife Park and joins the Soan River just short of the Grand Trunk Road.

However, construction activities continue to boom along vast swathes of land along the ‘right of way’ of both rivers – shrinking its water-carrying capacity during the flood season.

“The right of way of rivers is the area usually called the ‘riverine’ area or ‘katcha’ area, which is specifically left undisturbed because the river has the capacity to swell over that area in the rainy season,” said an official from the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) Planning Wing.

“Erecting permanent structures on this land will not only disturb the fast-flowing river during high flood, but those structures will also be damaged when the water enters such a locality that is established in its path.”

Incidentally, none of the many authorities responsible for disaster mitigation have taken the causes of urban flooding seriously, and the ‘Monsoon Contingency Directive 2016’, prepared by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), bears little or no mention of the phenomenon.

“The primary responsibility lies with the civic body, which has to ensure that all waterways are clear,” said an NDMA official, referring to the CDA. However, he added that NDMA had limited powers to persuade civic bodies to ensure the smooth drainage of water from cities.

Meanwhile, CDA has obviously failed to check the growing encroachments, not only along natural streams, but also the various housing societies and individuals structures that are now encroaching upon river beds.

Unlike the slums established along natural streams inside the city, the construction on river beds is being carried out by posh housing societies or well-connected individuals.

“People start building in the winter, when the water level is very low. Whenever we try to stop them, they obtain stay orders,” CDA Member (Environment) Sanaullah Aman told Dawn.

The system to control encroachments along river beds, the river itself and its right of way lies with the CDA’s Environment Wing, while the Planning Wing is the custodian of the city’s Master Plan.

“The Planning Wing has also taken action against many housing societies for violating their design, but several societies are registered with the ICT Administration and they do not heed such notices,” said CDA Member (Planning) Wasim Ahmed.

However, to take any action, both wings have to forward a request to another ‘Enforcement’ department which comes under the Administration Wing. The bureaucratic delay incurred usually benefits the encroachers.

On the other hand, those erecting constructions on the river’s right of way have their own woes.

“We bought this land through a well-reputed real estate agent – if there is anything wrong in this area, the authorities should not have allowed construction here,” said Sajid Abbasi, who lives near the river bed in the Bhara Kahu area.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2016