District admin gears up to remove encroachments along Leh Nullah

District admin gears up to remove encroachments along Leh Nullah

RAWALPINDI: The district administration has decided to demarcate over 300 kanals of land acquired along Leh Nullah after the devastating floods of 2001 and remove encroachments that have narrowed the water channel’s right of way. A senior official of the local administration told Dawn that the district administration had taken a serious notice of encroachments along Leh Nullah as it was creating problems for them to manage the city during monsoon season. He said people encroached the land along Leh Nullah which had been acquired by the government in 2001 after the devastating floods which resulted in the loss of lives in the city. He said the encroachments along Pirwadhai Bridge, Dhoke Dalal, Ganjmandi Bridge and Gawalmandi Bridge had squeezed the right of way of the water channel and it hindered the efforts of the provincial government which spent millions every year. Decides to demarcate over 300 kanals acquired after 2001 floods He said work would be started to identify the land acquired by the then city district government to clear the right of way of water for Leh Nullah. He said it would help to complete the sewerage system upgradation projects as well as to remove encroachments. Every year during monsoon, Leh Nullah swells and inundates low-lying areas but the past Punjab governments failed to get rid of this problem despite spending millions of rupees. Leh Nullah, which passes through the heart of the city’s downtown, has been playing havoc with public life and property but no serious effort was made to tackle the issue. More than 30-kilometre long nullah starts from the foot of Margalla Hills in Islamabad and discharges in Soan River in Rawalpindi near the building of the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench. Leh Nullah has six major tributaries, three originating from the foothills of Islamabad. It flows down through the low lying city of Rawalpindi, where another three tributaries join the nullah. During the British Raj, Nullah Leh had clean water and was home to fish, turtles and a variety of aquatic life. Flower and vegetable gardens were around it and bamboo trees grew along its banks. Swimming in the stream was a favourite pastime of the local residents. On July 23, 2001, Leh Nullah witnessed a devastating flood. Just a few hours of 620mm rain resulted in the worst floods in the city’s history. As many as 35 people lost their lives while many slums were swept away resulting in financial loss worth millions. The provincial governments have been spending millions of rupees on its dredging year after year. This year, the provincial government also launched dredging of Leh Nullah to the tune of Rs30 million to avoid flood like situation in the city. Meanwhile, a meeting regarding Leh Nullah was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner retired Capt Nadeem Nasir, attended by Additional Deputy Commissioner (Social Services) Fazail Mudassir, Wasa Managing Director Azizullah Khan and other relevant officials. The deputy commissioner (DC) directed that legal action be taken against those dumping waste into Nullah Leh and that FIRs be registered against the owners of the vehicles involved. He instructed the relevant officials to prepare and submit a comprehensive future plan for Leh Nullah, emphasising that all pertinent aspects should be considered during the planning process to resolve the issues associated with the drain by eliminating encroachments along its banks. Talking to Dawn, Wasa Managing Director Azizullah Khan said to avoid dumping of solid waste and construction material waste in Leh Nullah, Wasa had already formed a task force. He said three teams comprising four officials each were working round the clock which captured persons involved in dumping and handed them over to police for further action. He said the land acquired along the Leh Nullah in 2001 would be taken back from the encroachers by the district administration after demarcation. Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2026