LAHORE: The failure of the city district administration to allegedly clear the Ravi riverbed from temporary and permanent encroachments has delayed the phase-2 of the construction of flood-protection embankments which can cause devastation by floods, similar to last year, in the upcoming monsoon season, Dawn has learnt.
“Due to various settlements and encroachments in the riverbed, we are yet to start construction of the phase-2 of the project aimed at constructing flood-protection embankments along both sides of the 46km-long stretch of the river. We are ready to start construction within a short span of time if the administration hands over the area to us after clearing it from encroachments,” said a spokesperson of the Ravi Urban Development Authority (Ruda). “In various meetings, we reminded them about this issue, but to no avail. Though they are working on it, we cannot start work with a large number of permanent and temporary encroachments,” he revealed while talking to Dawn on Sunday.
The last year’s flood caused massive devastation in several districts of Punjab with casualties, injuries and ruining huge chunks of agricultural land. In Lahore, the flash floods of nearly 220,000 cusecs played havoc in the settlements developed inside the riverbed. A huge population living in the floodplain was evacuated by the administration.
The flood also drowned a number of houses and damaged concrete structures, forcing people to stay at temporary relief camps for many days along with their children. Subsequently, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz directed the Ruda authorities to complete construction of flood protection embankments before the start of the monsoon of 2026 by all means.
According to the Ruda spokesperson, the authority’s jurisdiction starts from 6km downstream of the Ravi Syphon and ends at the Hudiara drain point in Mohlanwal. He said the phase-1 consisted of the 14.6km area starting from 6km downstream from the Syphon and ending at the Railway bridge. The phase-2 consists of a 9km area starting from the Railway bridge to the motorway M2 bridge. The phase-2 starts from M2 and ends at the Hudiara drain with the total length of the portion being 22.5km.
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“We have completed 80pc work in phase-1 by constructing embankments of 20-feet that has a capacity of 350,000 cusecs of floodwater to pass. In phase-2, the work is yet to start due to the huge population in the riverbed – settled there much before the establishment of Ruda. Several properties in the riverbed even have electricity and gas connections. Some of the properties have been transferred to the residents, surprisingly through registry and intiqal (mutations),” he explained.
When asked why Ruda had not made any efforts to remove these encroachments on their own in 2020 and onward, he said the authority inherited these settlements and they could only stop new illegal constructions and not remove those constructed decades ago.
He said that the construction work of the phase-3 of the embankment had also been launched and at some portions, 20pc work had been completed with a deadline to complete the rest as soon as possible. The work to protect the Theme Park and other localities in phase-3 was also underway at the moment. “But we are worried about phase-2, where we are yet to initiate work and if this situation persists, the upcoming monsoon may become dangerous,” the spokesperson warned.
Talking to Dawn, Dr Habibul Haq Randhawa, a civil engineer and environmental expert who also worked as the chief engineer of the Urban Development Wing of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) in the past, warned that the monsoon was expected to start early next month (May). “Due to the El Nino effect, we can expect very heavy rains starting from May and ending in June, this year. This may lead to massive urban and river flooding in Punjab,” he further warned.
To avoid the possible damage of the monsoon, he urged the government to remove all sorts of encroachments in Ravi and other rivers, restoring their natural routes. “The main cause behind devastation in Lahore was the illegal constructions, encroachments in the Ravi riverbed. So, it is time to quickly take action,” Randhawa suggested.
When contacted, Lahore Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ali Ijaz said he would soon take up the issue with the government. “The settlements inside the riverbed must be shifted to some safe place,” he admitted. He said the critical area in phase-2 in terms of encroachment starts from old Ravi bridge and ends at the M2 bridge. This area had been surveyed along with the number of houses, livestock etc. “In case we receive any flood alert in monsoon, we will have no option but to shift people from this area to other places,” he said.
According to him, the irrigation department was to complete some embankment works from the Syphon to 6km downstream. “The irrigation department’s chief engineer in a recent briefing told us that the task will be completed soon. However, they are facing some problems at the railway bridge due to water passage capacity. They have taken up this issue with the railway authorities,” he explained.
He said that Ruda teams had been working hard to complete the flood protection embankments in phase-1 and phase-3. Besides the encroachment issues in phase-2, Ruda teams were facing some issues in phase-3, where they were yet to start work due to the existence of Jhok forest. “For this, we all are trying to declassify this area from the forest status. This will enable Ruda to start the civil work,” he added.
Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2026
