The story of Layi Nullah reveals how governance failures and climate pressures turn monsoon rains into recurring disasters for the city’s most vulnerable.
On humid days in Rawalpindi, the air along Layi Nullah is thick and potent. Siblings, Javed Bhatti, Mobeen Hasan and Husnara Ashfaq, all in their fifties, have lived alongside the Layi their entire lives. Floods are a traumatic experience for them. “The 2002 flood destroyed several houses; our family’s homes and possessions were damaged severely,” Husnara remembers. “After the flood, the government demolished part of our home and our uncle’s entire home. We were compensated poorly for the loss.”
On the health effects of the Layi’s pollution, Javed added, “We all experience a consistent cough. I don’t know if that’s linked to the Layi, but I do know that every monsoon, we see visible effects of the bad air on all metal and electronic possessions. These are constant issues for us.”
Their story is shared by thousands of residents along Rawalpindi’s waterways: daily stench and constant fear of urban flooding, caught between lack of resources, weak governance, and a watercourse that has been reduced to a waste-choked nullah. Urban floods in Pakistan are often described as natural disasters or divine punishment by residents who experience them, but the story of Layi Nullah shows they are rooted as much in governance failures and inequality as in excess rainfall.
Historical Precedence of Urban Flooding
Urban flooding in Pakistan is not new, but its intensity has increased. Unlike riverine floods, urban floods strike quickly when drains overflow due to heavy rain and blocked waterways (Haque, 2012). Rawalpindi, situated in a natural basin, is particularly vulnerable; multiple streams from the Margalla Hills converge into Layi Nullah, funneling stormwater into densely populated areas (Khan, 2020).
Hassan Touseef, a historian and tour guide, talks about the transformation of the city, and with it, of Layi Nullah. “Rawalpindi is an ancient city which used to be under Sikh rule, followed by British occupation, and then post-partition Pakistani development. Throughout its history, Layi has been an important waterway, providing settlements with freshwater.”
Hassan delved into the history of encroachment on the Layi’s banks. “The British preferred to settle across the river from existing settlements, should the need arise for closure of access to their part of the city.” Naturally, when two settlements exist across a river, infrastructure would begin to move closer to the banks of the watercourse.
Flooding naturally occurred due to the many rivulets that flowed from Margalla Hills, through Islamabad and into the Layi. Monsoon would cause waterways to swell, and floods would occur. The crisis of urban flooding in the Layi gradually got worse after the establishment of Islamabad as the country’s capital in the 1960s.
Rapid urbanization and expansion led to an exponential increase in wastewater and municipal waste dumped into the rivulets, effectively destroying wildlife habitats, choking the Layi, and generating putrid smells.
Faizan Khattak, an aspiring urban planner, shared older maps of the city (1960), which not only show open spaces and floodplains but also lack the encroachments on the banks of the Layi today.
With Pakistan’s monsoon patterns becoming more erratic due to climate change, extreme rainfall events are expected to intensify (IPCC, 2022). Yet, as Faizan says, “Dawar Butt once tweeted ‘the more concrete you pour, the more flooding you get’ and I think that’s the best way to put it.” Rawalpindi has pursued car-centric development and housing sprawl, eating up green spaces that once absorbed floodwaters.
The Waste-Encroachment Nexus
Interviews with civil society and technical experts reveal a consensus: waste mismanagement and encroachment amplify flood risk.
“Plastic and paper choke the nullahs. We don’t have proper recycling or segregation,” said Dr. Adnan Arshad, a research and civil society representative. “This waste can actually be cashed, but entrepreneurial solutions have not scaled up yet.”
Encroachments tell a more complex story. Low-income and slum settlements are often framed as the main culprits, yet as Faizan points out, “The working class’s two-foot encroachment gets demolished, while elite societies and highways built on wetlands are regularized.” This selective enforcement fuels inequality while failing to address the structural causes of flooding.
Community members see this as a grave concern, as Husnara says, “Slum settlements are usually the ones that suffer most losses. The Layi takes lives every year, especially of young children who play in the water. People don’t take precautions and the government doesn’t stop them from encroaching either.”
“After floods and losses, areas around the Layi become problematic,” she explains. “Not only do we see a rise in wild animals, such as snakes and wild boars, but we also see a rise in drug addicts and dangerous crowds.”
Marginalized Communities on the Frontline
Flood impacts are not evenly distributed. Slum dwellers, already living without sanitation or adequate drainage, lose what little they own when waters rise. These vulnerabilities embody climate injustice, where those least responsible for environmental degradation suffer its harshest consequences (Sultana, 2022). As Faizan puts it, “Our planning model is for elites. Until we build cities that serve the working class, floods will continue to be disasters of inequality.”
Hussein El Adroos, a retired specialist in mechanized agriculture, has worked on several of Pakistan’s major dams. He believes that urban flooding crises can be traced back to poor governance. According to him, Layi Nullah has been misused as a dumping ground for decades, with bridges and construction debris obstructing its flow. While proposals exist, such as diverting water to Korang River or lining the nullah for faster flow, they remain stalled.
Early warning systems are almost non-existent. “Pakistan Meteorological Department gave above-normal rainfall alerts to several government offices,” said Dr. Arshad. “But nothing was done. Communities received no warnings.” When floods hit, municipal bodies scramble to clear debris, but no long-term resilience planning is visible.
Historian Hassan traced this failure back to partition-era urbanization. “Historically, Rawalpindi had wide floodplains that absorbed excess water. But with Islamabad’s development and massive migration, those floodplains were built over. Now, there’s no space for the water to go.”
Governance - Or Lack Thereof
The institutional vacuum worsens matters. Local governments remain disempowered. As Hussein noted, “Deputy Commissioners are not accountable to residents. Empowered municipal governments, with revenue-raising powers, could respond better and invest in prevention.”
Despite the neglect, communities and civil society are not passive. NGOs like Potohor Organization for Development Advocacy (PODA) run awareness campaigns on waste segregation and flood preparedness. Local community-based organizations mobilize tree planting and drain cleaning, while youth groups organize informal clean-ups.
International examples show possibilities. South Korea’s Cheonggyecheon River was restored from under a highway and transformed into a park, reducing flood risk while reviving ecology (Cho, 2010). Faizan suggests similar efforts could restore Layi and Soan as “green corridors”, but this would require removing elite encroachments as well as informal ones. Meanwhile, residents continue mutual aid, and these grassroots efforts show that resilience is possible if governance frameworks recognize and support community agency.
The story of Layi Nullah is one of rivers transformed into sewers, of floodplains consumed by concrete, and of marginalized communities bearing the costs of elite-driven urban growth.
Flooding in Rawalpindi is not just a matter of clogged drains or heavy rain. It is the outcome of decades of environmental mismanagement, governance neglect, and unequal urban planning. Without reform, future monsoons will only deepen these injustices.
References
- Haque, A. N., Dodman, D., & Hossain, M. M. (2012). Individual, communal and institutional responses to urban flooding in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Environment and Urbanization, 24(3).
- Khan, S., et al. (2020). Urban flood resilience in Pakistan: A review. Natural Hazards, 104.
- IPCC. (2022). Sixth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2022 – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Geneva: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
- UN-Habitat. (2018). The State of Asian and Pacific Cities 2018: Urban Sustainability in Asia and the Pacific. Nairobi: UN-Habitat.
- Cho, M. (2010). The politics of urban nature restoration: The case of Cheonggyecheon restoration in Seoul, Korea. International Development Planning Review, 32(2).
- Sultana, F. (2022). Critical climate justice. The Geographical Journal, 188(1).
- Mustafa, D., et al. (2013). Urban flooding in Pakistan: Policy gaps and research needs. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 6(4).
- Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI). (2019). Urban Resilience and Climate Change in Pakistan. Islamabad.
- Ahmad, S., & Wajihuddin, M. (2017). Floodplain encroachments and flood risk in urban Pakistan. Pakistan Development Review, 56(4).
