As monsoon rains soak the city, the sparse network of roads and pipelines fails to keep up.
Rickshaws pass through accumulated rainwater on Makkah Road in Lahore after a downpour. Rain lashed the city for two and a half hours. photo: application
LAHORE:
The monsoon season, while relieving the scorching summer heat and improving weather conditions, often becomes a source of distress for Lahore residents who have to maneuver around sinking roads.
In the last three years, more than 100 incidents have been reported in Lahore during the monsoon season involving collapsed sewage and water pipes and sinking roads. These incidents have injured more than 50 people and caused damage to dozens of vehicles. The city’s old, deteriorating sewage system, parts of which are between 30 and 40 years old, has been exposed during heavy rains, highlighting significant structural weaknesses.
Professor Asif Tanveer, a resident of Johar Town, shared that for many years, roads in 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 simply cover the damaged road with stones and gravel without fixing the underlying sewage or water pipes, which continue to leak and burst, damaging the roads again,” Tanveer revealed.
Another local resident, Khalid Javed, pointed out that 60 percent of Lahore’s roads had sewage and water pipes under them.
“To reduce development costs, roads were built directly over these pipelines. In some places, the pipelines even pass through residential neighborhoods. Therefore, the risk of damage increases considerably during the rainy season,” Javed said.
According to documents obtained by The Express PAkGazette, many of the sinkholes have occurred in Johar city, especially in Khayaban-e-Firdousi, where several vehicles have fallen into deep holes. Similar incidents have occurred in Gowalmandi, where motorcyclists were injured after suddenly falling into potholes that formed under the road. According to an internal survey by the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), this year alone more than 25 areas in Lahore have experienced varying degrees of road subsidence and collapse, including Khayaban-e-Firdousi, Bostan Colony, Satu Katla, Faisal Town, Akbar Shaheed Chowk Road, Green Town, Gulshan Ravi, Islampura, Baba Azam Chowk, Ghore Shah Road, Shahdara, Farukh Abad and Kot. Khawaja Saeed.
According to Mian Sohail Hanif Bhandara, urban planner, the main reason behind the road collapses was poor planning by WASA and LDA. “Sewage and water supply pipes have a limited lifespan, but in Lahore, roads have been built directly on decades-old pipes without replacing them.
Roads and green areas were built on top of 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 accidents. Instead of repairing these pipelines, the government should lay completely new ones to ensure safety of roads and citizens,” Bhandara said.
WASA Director General Ghufran Ahmed claimed that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had approved the replacement of pipelines on 26 roads with funds running into billions of rupees. “This measure is expected to significantly reduce the number of such incidents and improve the stability of infrastructure. Government-funded sewage and water supply development projects are being carried out, with the aim of providing permanent solutions to these problems,” Ahmed said.
“The government has approved a major project to protect Johar town and surrounding areas from further damage. Under this project, a five-kilometre sewer trunk line will be laid along Khayaban-e-Firdousi from Shaukat Chowk to Shaukat Khanum Hospital,” WASA Lahore spokesperson Abu Zar said.
