Daily Times

The scene is not very difficult to comprehend as the sewage channels were clogged and filled with foul-smelling slush flushed out from houses in the densely populated area of Peshawar while the poor sewerage system had exposed its residents to fatal waterborne diseases.

The overflow of sewerage channels is caused due to rapid urbanization, especially in overpopulated areas in the interior city including Shahdhand, Ganj and Kohati mostly inhibited by low-income people.

The locality Shahdhand which was adjacent to the somewhat beautiful, planned and affordable locality of the provincial metropolis Gulbahar, is considered unsuitable for living due to the huge excavation of mud that was procured to brick kiln situated on Phandu and Kohat roads.

The rapid urbanization due to massive influx from suburban areas of the city led to a multitude of problems including sewerage issues linked to numerous health hazards. “When we had acquired a house on rent at Shahdhand few years ago as it was less populated and the living environment was far better as compared to the present situation that adversely affect its inhabitants owing to overflow of drainage water channels with bad smell everywhere in streets,” said Meraj Yousaf, an employee of estate agency while talking to APP.

“We were extremely happy due to the availability of all basic amenities including electricity, water and gas but we are not at ease due to the worsening sewerage system.” The situation has changed completely after the area became overpopulated due to an influx of people from suburban localities including erstwhile Fata and other tribal districts who made Peshawar their abode to find employment, schools and colleges, healthcare services and seek better economic opportunities for their loved ones, he said.

“The main problem in our locality is continuously deteriorating sanitation conditions due to massive urbanization and inadequate sanitation services.” He said the rusted water pipes at Gunj, Kohati, Sikandar Town, Deh Bahadur, Nauthia Qadeem and Nauthia Jadeed exposed Peshawarties to waterborne diseases and demanded for its immediate replacement.

“Poor sanitation and contaminated water caused by urbanization lead to different waterborne diseases including diarrhea, typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery and hepatitis A that may prove fatal, especially for children and elderly citizens,” said Dr Malik Riaz Khan, senior medical officer, government hospital Pabbi Nowshera.

He said about 60 percent infant and children deaths were caused by diarrhea while the cholera fatality rate is 25-5- percent and that every 16th minutes, a person dies of hepatitis, mostly due to drinking unsafe water in Pakistan.

He referred to a research study undertaken by UNICEF with the support of the Government of Pakistan between January and November 2020, ‘one driver of Water and Sanitation Challenges (WASC) is the rapid growth in population – Pakistan is the 6th most populous country in the world with 2% annual growth and investments in water and sanitation services are barely keeping pace in the wake of rapid population growth and cities’ extension. The proportion of Pakistanis living in urban areas has increased substantially, from 17.7% of the population in 1951 to 36.4% in 2017 which created challenges of unmanaged urbanization and poor sewerage system.