Met Office, Sindh govt quash rumours of heatwave in days to come

Quashing the rumours of an intense heatwave in Karachi, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) and the Sindh government have clarified that neither have they issued any ‘red alert’ regarding the weather in Karachi and the rest of Sindh and nor have they issued any warning about heatwave approaching Karachi and other areas of the province in the coming days.

“We are not seeing any heatwave in Karachi in the coming days. Similarly, there is no heatwave in the other cities of Sindh as temperatures normally touch 45 to 50 degrees Celsius in some cities, including Nawabshah, Larkana, Dadu and Jacobabad,” said Karachi Met Office chief Abdur Rashid as he spoke to The News on Saturday.

Following an increase in the heat index or feel-like temperature due to high humidity in Karachi for the last two days, circulation of fake messages started on social media which warned people of extreme weather conditions in the city in the coming days.

As the messages cited fake warnings of the PMD and the Sindh government, they caused widespread panic among the people who started advising each other to avoid going outside during the daytime and consume high volumes of water.

Even the office of Director General Health Sindh Dr Masood Solangi was deceived by the fake messages as it issued a ‘heatwave’ alert by quoting the PMD and declared health emergency at the hospitals in Sindh. Later, the Met Office denied that it had issued any alert on heatwave.

“The Pakistan Meteorological Department has not issued any warning regarding heatwave. The alert issued by the office of DG Health Sindh is wrong and uncalled for,” Rashid said and added that 36 to 38 degrees Celsius was a normal temperature in the month of June and they were not seeing any situation like the 2015 Karachi heatwave in the days to come.

Meanwhile, the Sindh government also rejected rumours that a heatwave was going to grip Karachi or any other city of Sindh in the coming days, saying that it had not issued any such ‘red alert’ for the provincial capital.

"There is fake news circulating on WhatsApp and social media. The Sindh government has not issued any such red alert," Adviser to the Sindh Chief Minister on Information Murtaza Wahab said. He advised the citizens not to pay heed to such fake reports.