Wasa starts drains desilting ahead of monsoon

LAHORE:To remain well-prepared for the upcoming monsoon, Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) has initiated desilting of 55.70 kilometer primary and 38.56 kilometer secondary drains in the provincial metropolis.

The move was initiated on the directions of Wasa Managing Director Syed Zahid Aziz, who said that desilting of sewer lines and drains played an important role in reducing the inundation period of rainwater. “Desilting is a continuous process and the first phase of desilting of sewer lines and drains has already been completed while the second phase is in progress,” he revealed. In addition to routine desilting, three additional teams have been constituted for sewer desilting in the best interest of the general public.

Six primary drains are situated in the city, which included Cantt Drain starting from Jorey Pull (Saddar) and passed through Mall Road, Jail Road, Ferozepur Road, Samanabad, Multan Road, Gulshan-e-Ravi Sabzazar ending at River Ravi. It is 15.39 kilometer long.

The second primary drain is Sattu Katla Drain, which started from Fruit & Vegetable Market at Ferozepur Road and ends at Hadyara Drain and is 17.68km long. The third drain is Lower Chotta Ravi Drain starting from Bagh Munshi Ladha Yadgar ends at River Ravi at Saggian and is 4.26km long. The fourth drain is Upper Chotta Ravi Drain starting from Bhogiwal at China Scheme ends at Shad Bagh Disposal Station and is 4.26km long. The fifth drain is Shalimar Escape Channel Drain starting from Lal Pul, Mughalpura ends at River Ravi at Mehmood Booti and is 10km long and the last primary drain is Shahdara Drain starting from Shahdara ends at Farrukhabad Disposal Station at River Ravi and is 4.11km long. Wasa MD said that the desilting operation would be done with the help of 331 machines, including excavators (15), dump trucks (61), crane mounted trucks (13), jetting machines (45), suction machines (44), water bouzers (26) and 127 other machines (back hoe, loader, trolley & dewatering sets).

He said that a large number of citizens especially commercial consumers used to throw their waste in drains which resulted in their choking. He said every year Wasa carried out desilting operation to retain the drains capacity to handle excessive rainwater during the monsoon.

Wasa MD revealed that a new project was initiated in the provincial metropolis under which a big underground drain would be constructed through tunnel boring process. He said that the project would be the first of its kind and was exclusively designed for the city’s 22 sore points where rainwater accumulated and caused inconvenience to the citizens.

Talking about secondary drains, he said these drains were also very important as they connect local sewer lines with primary drains and these drains also faced choking due to waste bags and other domestic and commercial garbage.

These drains included Central Drain Dial Singh College, Kharak Drain Neelam Block Iqbal Town, Bird Wood Road Drain, Gulberg I Drain, Gulberg-II Drain, College Road Township Drain, General Hospital Drain, Maulana Shaukat Ali Road Drain, Industrial Area Drain Quaid-e-Azam Industrial Estate, City Drain Texali Gate, Siddique Pura Drain, Railway Drain Chamra Mandi and Shalimar Hospital Drain. He said special teams were deputed for desilting of these drains. He appealed to the citizens to stop throwing garbage in the drains so that they keep on running.