A flash flood was generated on 28 July (Wednesday) due to a cloudburst in Islamabad which destroyed several areas. The videos from the areas of E-11 and D-12 show that cars were floating due to the flash flood. According to the (ISPR) Inter-Services Public Relations, the heavy rain caused water accumulation in E-11. It also caused the water levels to rise of Nullah Lai.
The flood created an emergency for the residents of the twin cities meanwhile directorate (ISPR) said that civil administration was being helped by the Army in rescue missions.
Casualties due to Flood
The water from the flash floods entered the homes in E-11 which ended up killing a mother and her son. The water entered their basement around 6:00 am which ended up breaking a wall. The administration reached at 8:30 am.
The water assembled at the basement of the house which ended up drowning 4 children and their mother. 3 children were rescued by the administration, however, one child and her mother were taken by the flood.
Illegal Construction in E-11
There are unlicensed high-rise buildings and unlawful cooperative housing plans in E-11. The nullah on the E-12/D-12 side was covered and narrowed due to the construction of the unlicensed housing society. After roughly 200 meters, it joins a stream coming from the D-11 side, causing a bottleneck, which forces the water to gush out.
The flood situation was formed due to the poor performance of the management of the housing society. The management had built a road on the nullah after covering it which has also become a dumping site for E-11 residents.
E-11 not under Capital Development Authority (CDA)
Due to the presence of the Golra shrine, Real Estate Golra was exempted from acquisition on orders of former president Gen. Ayub Khan. Therefore, CDA did not acquire the sector, except a portion of it. The northern strip was allotted to people affected by land acquisition in F-11 and F-12.
Those who were given the land, on the other hand, sold it to private developers, who developed five housing projects in the areas:
- Medical Cooperative.
- Federation Cooperative.
- Federal Services Society.
- Police Foundation.
- Multi-Professional Housing Society.
There was flooding in the following areas:
- D-12
- F-6
- F-7
- G-6
- Some houses of G-7.
Meteorological Department
Director-General, Muhammad Riaz, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said that the received recorded rainfall on Wednesday was 123mm which is a normal amount. This states that the flood was not caused due to heavy rainfall.
According to Babar Awan, the administration of housing societies and state departments responsible for urban flooding are being questioned.
