Dawn Investigation: Three Areas Hardest Hit E-11 Nullah Reduced From 100ft To 18ft CDA Itself Allowed Society To Cover Nullah Gumrah Kas Course Changed Since 2005 Satellite Images Ghauri Town Nullahs Squeezed For Construction Lohi Bher Lake Proposed By Doxiadis Associates 1960 Never Built Now Two Housing Societies Occupy The Site CDA Chairman Promises Four New Check Dams And New E-11 Nullah
According to Dawn, a Dawn investigation has found that the Capital Development Authority’s failure to implement Islamabad’s landmark 1960 master plan through decades of negligence, illegal encroachments on nullah rights of way and its own complicit approvals, is a major contributing factor to the worsening flash flooding that struck the capital on September 1, 2026, when 150mm of rain inundated E-11, Park Road near Comsats and Ghauri Town.
In sector E-11, where a mother and child died in 2021, a nullah with 100 feet right of way was reduced to just 18 feet with a sharp bend by a housing society which the CDA itself permitted to cover the nullah. The second nullah entering from E-10 was also squeezed, creating a bottleneck. Five cooperative housing societies operate in E-11, three without valid layout plans; unauthorised highrises are rampant.
The Gumrah Kas nullah near Park Road had its entire course changed between 2005 and 2026, as satellite imagery confirmed. Ghauri Town, an unauthorised society, saw both its natural nullahs squeezed for construction. Most strikingly, Doxiadis Associates, the Greek firm that designed Islamabad in 1960, had specifically proposed Lohi Bher Lake to store rainwater in the city’s lowest-lying area. The CDA never acquired the land. Two housing societies now occupy that site.
CDA Chairman Sohail Ashraf acknowledged the failures and promised four new check dams, a new E-11 nullah and clearing of encroachments from rights of way.
The lake was designed to stop this. They built houses on it instead. Check out our previous coverage of Islamabad on The Trusted Times.
