RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government has asked the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) Rawalpindi to start desilting the Leh Nullah and finish the project by the start of monsoon season.

The government has given Wasa Rs25 million for the project, a senior official of the district administration told Dawn.

The Punjab chief secretary had on April 27 called a meeting of the water and sanitation agencies and waste management companies of Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Multan to draw a plan for cleaning the Leh Nullah over which theRawalpindi Waste Management Company and Wasa were at odds.

The official from the district administration said the provincial government was given a report which said the city`s drains were choked due to the differences between Wasa and the waste management companies.

`The subject was raised by the Punjab Disaster Management Authority, which pointed out that drains were not being properly maintained by Wasa and needed to be de-silted before the monsoon,` he said.

The provincial government then directed the waste management companies of the five big cities of the province to deploy necessary resources to de-silt all roadside drains so rainwater is disposed of effectively.

He said Wasa would be responsible for removing the island that had appeared in the Leh Nullah so that the smooth flow ofwater is ensured.

The official added that the district administration had already stopped dumping garbage along the nullah and a fine of Rs1,000 would be imposed on those who dumped garbage along the drain.

When contacted, Wasa spokesperson Umer Farooq said the provincial government had released Rs25 million for the desilting of the Leh Nullah and that the project would be completed before the starting of monsoon.

The 22-kilometre-long drain starts from the Margalla Hills, passes through Rawalpindi and falls into the Soan River.

The Leh Nulla and other drains get chol(ed during monsoon every year, creating problems for locals.

Politicians use flooding in the Leh Nullah as an opportunity to increase their voter bank by carrying out relief work for those affected. But they are yet to formu-late a permanent solution for the problem.

During the tenure of former President Pervez Musharraf, Rs22 billion were allocated for the Leh Nullah expressway project, in which roads were to be constructed on both sides of the nullah.

Cement walls were also to be constructed to fence it in and to bring the sewerage water into the Sewage Treatment Plant at Adiala. However, the project is yet to be executed.

A senior district administration official said encroachments along the drain go unchecked by the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation and the Rawalpindi Development Authority.

If the water in the Leh Nullah raise to over 22 feet, the nearby densely populated area will be flooded, as the drain`s banks have already been eaten away by encroachments and the construction of houses and workshops.Aamir Yasin