Islamabad received heavy monsoon rains Tuesday night that flooded several low-lying areas of the city. The Capital Development Authority had reportedly warned of a downpour, but the meteorological department ignored the warning. The city received 130mm of rain causing flash floods early Wednesday morning at some private housing partnerships in two sectors. A woman and her seven-year-old son drowned after floodwaters accumulated in the basement of their home at one of the private housing partnerships. Many vehicles were swept away by the torrent of water that accumulated on the roads.
Authorities have blamed the private housing companies, insisting that the flooding was due to the violation of regulations governing construction. According to an official, the flooding in Sector E-11-2 was due to the construction of a road over a storm drain. The drain collapsed due to the illegally constructed road and overflowing rainwater entered the houses. Action must be taken against wrong housing societies, as their violation of the rules has cost two precious lives.
Authorities claim that, except for the low-lying areas and the two private housing partnerships, rainwater was removed from almost all areas within a few hours. Reports say civic organizations have been busy cleaning drains and eliminating encroachments for the past six months. It is necessary to investigate why the work could not be completed before the monsoon season. The authorities involved did a good job cleaning the neighborhoods of water fairly quickly and restoring the power supply, but the situation would not have reached this point if the authorities had prepared for the rainy day in advance.
Never before has the capital city been submerged in water like this. Don't you remember what happened in Karachi last year?
Posted in The Express Tribune, July 30th, 2021.
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