Lahore’s Forgotten Waterway
Asem Mustafa Awan
Islamabad: Lahore proudly celebrates its gardens, its history and its culture. Visitors admire the Walled City, the Badshahi Mosque and the bustling markets that have survived for centuries. Yet, hidden behind the famous Tollinton Market, another Lahore exists. It is not found in tourist brochures. It is buried beneath mountains of garbage.
This photograph is difficult to absorb. The stream has almost disappeared beneath plastic bags, household waste and debris. Water no longer flows freely. It struggles to find a path through what has become an open landfill.
The monsoon clouds are gathering once again.
For residents living nearby, the concern is no longer whether it will rain. It is what happens after the rain. Blocked drains have a simple consequence. Water has nowhere to go. Streets flood. Homes are damaged. Families lose belongings. Contaminated water enters neighbourhoods, bringing with it the risk of disease long after the floodwater recedes.
This is not merely an environmental issue. It is a public health issue. It is an urban planning issue. Above all, it is a human issue.
Plastic thrown carelessly into a drain does not disappear. It waits. It accumulates. Eventually, entire communities pay the price.
Read More: The tragedy is that this scene is unfolding not in a forgotten corner of the country but behind one of Lahore’s best-known landmarks. If such conditions exist at the heart of one of Pakistan’s largest cities, one can only imagine the challenges faced by neighbourhoods far from public attention.
Every year, awareness campaigns urge citizens to dispose of waste responsibly. Those messages matter. Civic responsibility begins with individuals. But keeping waterways functional also requires consistent collection, maintenance and timely clearance before seasonal rains arrive.
The drain in this photograph is sending a warning long before the first storm.
Nature rarely negotiates with negligence. Water follows its course, whether drains are prepared or not.
This photograph is therefore more than an image of accumulated waste. It is a reminder that disasters often begin quietly. Not with torrential rain, but with months of unattended garbage, delayed action and ignored warning signs.
When the monsoon finally arrives, the question will not be whether the water came.
The question will be whether the warning in this photograph was heard in time.
Photo Credit: Online
