Over the past three years, more than 100 road collapsing incidents have been reported in Lahore
A large sinkhole filled with rainwater appears on a busy road near Wahdat Colony after rain. FILE PHOTO: APP
LAHORE:
The monsoon season, while bringing relief from the summer’s scorching heat and improving weather conditions, often becomes a source of distress for the residents of Lahore, who have to manoeuvre around sinking roads.
Over the past three years, more than 100 incidents have been reported in Lahore during the monsoon season involving collapsed sewerage and water pipelines and sunken roads. These incidents have injured more than 50 people and caused damage to dozens of vehicles. The aging and decaying sewerage system of the city, some parts of which are 30 to 40 years old, has been exposed during the heavy rains, highlighting major structural weaknesses.
Professor Asif Tanveer, a resident of Johar Town, shared that for many years, roads across different areas collapsed during the rainy season, forming large sinkholes. “Repeated complaints to the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) have not resolved the issue. Authorities merely cover the damaged road with stones and gravel without fixing the underlying sewer or water lines, which continue to leak and burst, damaging the roads again,” revealed Tanveer.
Another local resident, Khalid Javed, pointed out that 60 per cent of Lahore’s roads had sewer and water pipelines running beneath them. “To cut development costs, roads were built directly over these pipelines. In some places, pipelines even run through residential neighbourhoods. Hence the risk of damage increases significantly during the rainy season,” said Javed.
According to documents obtained by The Express Tribune, many of the sinkholes have been reported in Johar Town, especially on 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 beneath the road. According to the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA’s) internal survey, this year alone over 25 areas in Lahore have experienced various degrees of road sinking and collapses 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, an urban planner, the main reason behind road collapses was WASA and LDA’s poor planning. “Sewer and water supply pipelines have a limited lifespan, but in Lahore, roads have been constructed directly over decades-old pipelines without replacing them.
Roads and greenbelts were constructed over these pipelines without any future consideration. Over time, the old pipes began to leak and crack, and due to the pressure from heavy rains, they burst, causing sinkholes and leading to accidents. Instead of repairing these pipelines, the government should install entirely new ones to ensure the safety of roads and citizens,” said Bhandara.
WASA’s Managing Director Ghufran Ahmed stated that Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz had approved the replacement of pipelines on 26 roads using multi-billion-rupee funds. “This step is expected to significantly reduce the number of such incidents and improve infrastructural stability. Development projects for sewerage and water supply are ongoing under government funding, aiming to provide permanent solutions to these problems,” said Ahmed.
“The government has sanctioned a major project to protect Johar Town and surrounding areas from further damage. Under this project, a five-kilometre trunk sewerage line will be laid along Khayaban-e-Firdousi from Shaukat Chowk to Shaukat Khanum Hospital,” said WASA Lahore’s spokesperson Abu Zar.
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