HYDREABAD: The area around Railway Station Hyderabad has been under water since Monday evening`s downpour in the city of 94mm as civic agencies and Pakistan Railways wrangle over drainage of stagnant water outside the limits of the station.

Services in children hospital of Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation located near the station were badly hampered as Pakistan Railways` authorities prefer to keep their own yard clear of rainwater and not take any step to dewater the area outside its limits.

PR`s assistant executive engineer Yasir Rafiq was not available for comment. He neither attended calls nor replied the text messages.

`Attendance of doctors and patients in OPD is seriously affected,` said a doctor at the hospital, which had 15-bed neona-tal, 20-bed neonatal and 12-bed measles ICU of pediatrics. Passengers, especially the elderly ones, find it quite difficult to reach the railway station.

MQM Sindh Assembly member Sabir Kaimkhani visited the area and spoke to deputy commissioner after which a number of pumping machines were provided through Hyderabad Water & Sewerage Corporation (HW&SC) for dewatering the area.

Due to accumulation of rainwater, access to settlements near the station also remained blocked, though their residents could still use another thoroughfare from Goods Naka to reach their homes.

HW&SC`s executive engineer Mohammad Ali Baig said that access to KKF`s hospital was partially cleared while the remaining area was being dewatered. Time and again PR authorities had been asked to connect this area with HW&SC`s system for drainage but in vain, he said.He said that PR concerned department also used Tando Yusuf nullah to drain out rainwater inside railway station. Until this water was cleared the railway authorities keep the manhole closed to avoid receiving flows of rainwater from this side ofthe station,he said.

`They first clear their area through their own system which is a smaller one for clearing their yard. PR officials block drainage of this area asfar as disposalof rainwater is concerned,` he said.

Hyderabad Mayor Kashif Shoro, minister`s special assistant on food Abdul Jabbar Khan also visited the area and spoke to PR officials for addressing the problem as soon as possible.

Sabir Kaimkhani said that the pumping machines which were usually kept in Makrani Para during rainfall season always helped drain out rainwater from Railway Colony as well as Railway Station area, but this time round the machines hadnotbeensetup.Not PR`s liability, says official PR`s Divisional Engineer (maintenance), Imran Saeed, said that draining out rainwater outside railway station`s building was not PR`s liability.

He said that rainwater of different localities away from railways station ended up outside the station`s building due to gravitational flows. `We have made arrangements to keep our yard clear of rainwater and ensure smooth operation of rail traffic,` he said.

He said that he had requested Hyderabad`s elected representatives including the mayor to put up some permanent mechanism outside the building for draining out the rainwater through pumping machines or build a permanent drain near rickshaw market.

`We can offer land for building a small pumping station to local government authorities and construct a room for their staff so that this problem is permanently fixed,` he said.