Gutters overflow in Old City after major sewerage line caves in near II Chundrigar Road

A sewerage line of 66-inch diameter collapsed on Saturday at a road junction outside the Shaheen Complex connecting Karachi’s business hub, II Chundrigar Road, to MR Kayani Road.

The damaged sewerage line resulted in overflowing gutters in Boulton Market, II Chundrigar Road, Kharadar, Haqani Chowk, Civil Hospital and adjoining areas.

Just ahead of Muharramul Haram, a huge area around Haqani Chowk, where a lot of Muharram processions and Majalis take place, is inundated with sewage.

Speaking to The News, the chief engineer sewerage of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB), Aftab Chandio, said the sunken line at the Shaheen Complex was a major sewer line, for the repair of which the water board required at least five days.

He lamented that the line had damaged on the eve of first Muharram and it resulted in sewage overflowing in areas where Muharram processions took place.

The KWSB managing director has ordered repair of the line as soon as possible to prevent public inconvenience. Chandio said the biggest hurdle in the repair work was the traffic on II Chundrigar Road.

“The damaged line is in the centre of the road,” he said, adding that the traffic coming from II Chundrigar Road and MR Kiyani Road would be affected and it would be a massive task for the traffic police to manage traffic coming from these thoroughfares. He explained that the damaged 66-inch sewerage line was quite deep and machines had been dispatched to the site.

In the wee hours of Sunday, he said, the digging work would kick off, after which they would know the extent of damage. He explained that they would have to at least change a 100-metre patch of the sewerage line, for which they would have to dig up a sufficiently big portion of the road. The traffic police would have to come up with an alternative traffic plan, he said.