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RAWALPINDI, Jul 06 (APP):Special Secretary Housing and Urban Development Punjab, Tayyab Fareed here on Saturday visited Gawalmandi area and inspected the cleanliness work of Nullah Lai.
During the visit, the Secretary also reviewed the Monsoon preparations of Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) Rawalpindi.
On the occasion, the Special Secretary said that all the departments concerned need to be alert after the recent forecast of the Meteorological Department.
He said that WASA Rawalpindi had made extensive preparations for Monsoon, including timely cleaning of major drains and sewage lines of the city along with Nulla Lai.
Next two months are very important and there is need to be alert all the time, he said and instructed the departments to make coordinated efforts to provide relief to the citizens. Machinery and staff should be deployed particularly in low-lying areas of the city to deal with any kind of emergency situation, he directed.
The Special Secretary Housing further informed that the Punjab government had provided funds timely for the annual cleanliness project, due to which WASA had completed the arrangements in Rawalpindi on time.
He expressed the hope that the citizens would not face any kind of problem this year during heavy rains.
Special Secretary Housing said that Commissioner Rawalpindi Division, Engineer Aamir Khattak is monitoring the whole process and all the institutions are working under a comprehensive strategy.
Earlier, Managing Director (MD) WASA, Muhammad Saleem Ashraf while giving a briefing said that WASA had completed the preparations before the Monsoon. He said that the Punjab government had released the funds for the cleanliness work of 11 drains of the city. The cleaning work of Nulla Lai had been completed from Katarian Bridge to Murree Road, however machinery was working to clear the blockages in Nulla Lai after heavy rains last night and this process would continue during Monsoon, he added.
Similarly, the cleaning process of the major drains across the city was also completed before Eid Al-Azha, along with this, WASA Rawalpindi had used modern winch machines for cleaning the sewage lines and this work had also been completed on time, he informed.
Section-144 had been imposed to discourage throwing of garbage and solid waste in Nulla Lai and cases were also registered against several violators.
The MD further informed that during Monsoon rain, emergency is enforced under which the leaves of all the field staff are canceled and the staff remain present in the field round the clock.
Five Monsoon Emergency Relief Camps had been established in the city at Liaquat Bagh, Gawalmandi Nullah Lai bridge, Commercial Market, Sadiqabad and Khayaban-e-Sir Syed.
Heavy machinery and field staff to remain present in all emergency relief camps, he added.
WASA would use heavy machinery including jetting and sucker machines, de-watering sets, winch machines and water bowsers to clear stagnant rain water during heavy rains from different city areas particularly low-lying.
MD WASA said that all machinery of WASA is operational and training of staff has been completed. WASA Rawalpindi is doing its best to ensure that the citizens do not face any problem during Monsoon, he informed.
DG, RDA, Kinza Murtaza, Chief Engineer RDA, Anwar Baran, Director Sewerage Sadoon Basra and others officers were also present on this occasion.