Encroachments in Ravi riverbed delay flood embankment work in Lahore

LAHORE: Temporary and permanent encroachments in the Ravi riverbed are delaying the second phase of flood-protection embankment construction in Lahore, according to officials, raising concerns ahead of the upcoming monsoon season.

A spokesperson for the Ravi Urban Development Authority (Ruda) said the authority had still not been able to begin work on phase-2 of the project because settlements and encroachments remained in the riverbed. He said the project covers flood-protection embankments on both sides of a 46-kilometre stretch of the river and added that construction could begin within a short time if the district administration handed over the cleared area.

The spokesperson said Ruda had repeatedly raised the matter in various meetings, but work could not start while a large number of temporary and permanent encroachments remained in place. He added that many of the settlements in the riverbed predated the establishment of Ruda.

Last year’s flooding caused widespread damage in several districts of Punjab, with casualties, injuries and destruction of large areas of agricultural land. In Lahore, flash floods of nearly 220,000 cusecs badly affected settlements inside the riverbed. A large population living in the floodplain was evacuated by the administration, while houses were submerged and concrete structures were damaged, forcing residents and their children to stay in temporary relief camps for several days.

Following those floods, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz directed Ruda to complete the flood-protection embankments before the start of the 2026 monsoon.

Project phases and current status

According to the Ruda spokesperson, the authority’s jurisdiction begins 6km downstream of the Ravi Syphon and extends to the Hudiara drain point in Mohlanwal. He said phase-1 covers a 14.6km stretch from 6km downstream of the syphon to the railway bridge.

He said phase-2 spans 9km from the railway bridge to the M2 motorway bridge. He further said the phase-3 section starts from M2 and ends at the Hudiara drain, with a total length of 22.5km.

The spokesperson said 80pc of phase-1 had been completed, with 20-foot embankments built to allow the passage of 350,000 cusecs of floodwater. He said phase-2 had not yet started because of the large population living in the riverbed. He also said several properties in the area had electricity and gas connections, while some had even been transferred to residents through registry and intiqal.

When asked why Ruda had not removed the encroachments itself since 2020, the spokesperson said the authority had inherited the settlements and could only prevent new illegal construction, not remove structures built decades ago.

He said work on phase-3 had also been launched and around 20pc had been completed in some portions, with the remaining work to be finished as soon as possible. He added that work to protect the Theme Park and other localities in phase-3 was under way.

“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 said.

Warnings over early monsoon

Dr Habibul Haq Randhawa, a civil engineer and environmental expert who previously served as chief engineer of the Urban Development Wing of the Lahore Development Authority, warned that the monsoon was expected to begin early next month, in May.

He said, 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.

Randhawa urged the government to remove encroachments from the Ravi and other rivers and restore their natural routes. He said illegal construction and encroachments in the Ravi riverbed were the main cause of devastation in Lahore and called for swift action.

Administration response

Lahore Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ali Ijaz said he would soon take up the matter with the government. He said settlements inside the riverbed would have to be shifted to a safer place.

Ijaz said the most critical encroached area in phase-2 stretches from the old Ravi bridge to the M2 bridge. He said the area had been surveyed, including the number of houses and livestock present there.

He said that if a flood alert was issued during the monsoon, the administration would have no option but to move people from the area elsewhere.

According to the deputy commissioner, the irrigation department was responsible for completing some embankment work from the syphon to 6km downstream. He said the department’s chief engineer had recently briefed officials that the task would be completed soon, though there were problems at the railway bridge related to water passage capacity. He added that the matter had been taken up with railway authorities.

Ijaz said Ruda teams had been working to complete embankments in phase-1 and phase-3. He also said that, apart from encroachment issues in phase-2, there were difficulties in phase-3 because of the presence of Jhok forest, where work had not yet started in some areas. He said efforts were under way to declassify the area from forest status so that civil work could begin.