While the monsoon rains soak the city, the meager road and pipeline network cannot keep up
Rickshaws pass through rainwater accumulated on Makkah Road in Lahore after a downpour. The rain lashed the city for two and a half hours. photo: app
LAHORE:
While the monsoon season brings relief from the scorching heat of summer and improved weather conditions, it often becomes a source of distress for the residents of Lahore who have to maneuver around sinking roads.
Over the past three years, more than 100 incidents have been reported in Lahore during the monsoon season involving collapsed sewer and water lines and sunken roads. These incidents have injured more than 50 people and caused damage to dozens of vehicles. The city’s aging and dilapidated sewer system, some parts of which are 30 to 40 years old, has been exposed during the heavy rains, highlighting major structural weaknesses.
Professor Asif Tanveer, who lives in Johar Town, said that for many years, roads across different areas collapsed during the rainy season, forming large sinkholes. “Repeated complaints to the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) have not resolved the problem. The authorities are just covering the damaged road with stones and gravel without repairing the underlying sewerage or water lines, which continue to leak and burst, further damaging the roads,” revealed Tanveer.
Another local resident, Khalid Javed, pointed out that 60 percent of Lahore’s roads had sewer and water lines running under them.
“To reduce development costs, roads were built directly over these pipelines. In some places, pipelines even run through residential areas. Therefore, the risk of damage increases significantly during the rainy season,” Javed said.
According to documents obtained by The Express Pakinomist, many of the sinkholes have been reported in Johar Town, especially at Khayaban-e-Firdousi, where several vehicles have fallen into deep holes. Similar incidents have taken place in Gowalmandi, where motorcyclists were injured after suddenly falling into potholes formed under the road. According to the Water and Sanitation Agency’s (WASA’s) internal survey, over 25 areas in Lahore this year alone have experienced varying degrees of road subsidence and collapses, including Khayaban-e-Firdousi, Bostan Colony, Satu Katla, Faisal Town, Akbar Shaheed Chowk Road, Green Town, Gulshan Ravi, Islam Shawba, Ghahpura Choba, Ba, Shahwak Road Farukh Abad and Kot Khawaja Saeed.
According to Mian Sohail Hanif Bhandara, an urban planner, the main reason behind the road collapse was poor planning by WASA and LDA. “Pipelines for sewerage and water supply have a limited lifespan, but in Lahore, roads have been built directly over decades-old pipelines without replacing them.
Roads and green belts were built over these pipelines without any future consideration. Over time, the old pipes began to leak and crack, and due to the pressure of heavy rains, they burst, causing sinkholes and leading to accidents. Instead of repairing these pipelines, the government should install brand new ones to ensure the safety of roads and citizens,” Bhandara said.
WASA Managing Director Ghufran Ahmed stated that Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz had approved the replacement of pipelines on 26 roads using funds of several billion rupees. “This move is expected to significantly reduce the number of such incidents and improve infrastructural stability. Sewerage and water supply development projects are underway under government support to provide permanent solutions to these problems,” Ahmed said.
“The government has sanctioned a major project to protect Johar Town and surrounding areas from further damage. Under this project, a five-kilometer sewer line will be laid along Khayaban-e-Firdousi from Shaukat Chowk to Shaukat Khanum Hospital,” said WASA Lahore spokesperson Abu Zar.
