Dirty Lifeline of Rawalpindi I Nullah Lai I Yesterday’s Life, Today’s Curse I Stalled Lai Expressway

#rawalpindi #islamabad #rawalpindicity Dirty Lifeline of Rawalpindi I Nullah Lai I Yesterday’s Life, Today’s Curse I Stalled Lai Expressway Special Thanks: Muhammad Ali ‪@urdualfaz1227‬ Music: Binu Kumar, Kerala, India ‪@SoundSFX‬ (Under License) For Support: Buy Me a Coffee buymeacoffee.com/gilanilogs Syed Zulfiqar Arshad Gilani Easy Paisa: 0321 875 5750 IBAN: PK22TMFB0000000091196140 Standard Chartered Bank A/C 01714038001 Swift Code: SCBLPKKXXXX IBAN: PK36SCBL0000001714038001 Bank Alfalah A/C 5501 5000422906 Swift Code: ALFHPKKAXXX IBAN: PK06ALFH5501005000422906 #historicalplaces #heritagepakistan #pakistanhistory #pakistantourism #historyofpakistan #pakistanheritage #pakistan #travelpakistan #pakistantour #historyvlogs Nullah Lai is not simply a drain running through Rawalpindi. It is a natural rainwater drainage system whose catchment begins in the Margalla Hills and the higher plains of Islamabad, gathers water from numerous streams and drainage channels, enters Rawalpindi at Katarian and eventually joins the Soan River. The story of Nullah Lai is, in many ways, the story of the transformation of Islamabad and Rawalpindi themselves. Before the modern cities expanded around it, Lai was a natural watercourse. Its Islamabad-side system includes important tributaries such as Saidpur Kas, Tenawali Kas and Bedarawali Kas, originating in the Margalla Hills and joining the main channel near Katarian. The wider catchment also includes streams and rainwater channels associated with areas such as Saidpur, Shah Allah Ditta, Golra and other parts of Islamabad. The landscape around these natural waterways once contained springs, fields, gardens and open spaces rather than the dense urban construction seen today. As the water reached old Rawalpindi, Lai became part of everyday urban life. People used its clean water for washing clothes, animals drank from it, wrestlers used the water after their bouts, and traditional water systems such as jalar were associated with the irrigation of fields. Traditional jandars, or water-powered flour mills, were also part of the older water-based landscape. Old photographs and surviving memories of people who actually saw the jandars and bathed in Lai provide a rare human connection with this vanished landscape. The old Lai also had dhobi ghats, cremation grounds and other places connected with the social and religious life of the city. The historic Shamshan Ghat near Tipu Road is one of the surviving reminders of the multi-community Rawalpindi that once existed beside the watercourse. The old Chaklay-wala Bridge, built in 1890, and the area historically known as Serai Beli Ram provide further glimpses into the city's colonial-era history. But urban growth gradually changed the relationship between the city and Lai. Fields were replaced by houses, natural banks were narrowed, sewage and solid waste entered the drainage system, and encroachments pushed development closer to the watercourse. What had once been a natural stream became increasingly polluted and dangerous. The Lai basin today extends across the twin cities, and in Rawalpindi the main channel receives 11 other major drains, in addition to the principal tributaries identified in the older hydrological studies. Flooding has always been part of Lai's natural character, but urbanization has made its consequences far more severe. JICA's studies recorded 19 major floods between 1944 and 2004. The catastrophic flood of 23 July 2001, when around 620 mm of rain fell in Islamabad in roughly ten hours, killed 74 people and destroyed or damaged around 3,000 houses. That disaster led to major flood-mitigation and warning-system efforts, including the Lai Flood Forecasting and Warning System. The proposed Lai Expressway is another chapter in this long story. The RDA/NESPAK environmental assessment shows the proposed alignment from the Katarian area through Pirwadhai, Gawal Mandi, Ganj Mandi, Saddar and Chaklala towards Morgah, with different interchanges, flyovers and other structures. The project also went through different route-alignment options and design revisions. This vlog follows Lai through Islamabad and Rawalpindi—not merely as a flood channel, but as a natural watercourse around which landscapes, settlements, livelihoods and memories developed. From Margalla Hills and Islamabad's streams to Katarian, Pirwadhai, Gawal Mandi, the old city, Chaklala and finally the Soan River, this is the story of how a natural stream that once supported life became one of Rawalpindi's greatest urban problems. Follow us on: Facebook:   / gilanilogs   Twitter:   / gilanilogs   Instagram:   / zulfiqargil.  . WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaBl...