Light drizzle turns weather pleasant

PESHAWAR: The weather turned pleasant in the provincial capital after the city received light drizzle and windstorm Saturday afternoon.

Though the weather became pleasant in several areas of the provincial capital, it also caused immense hardships to people in Peshawar Cantonment, University Road, Hayatabad and suburbs.

Even after a light rain of just one millimetre, roads in some places and the under-construction Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) turned into puddles, particularly in the Stadium Chowk in the Peshawar Cantonment where crossing the roundabout became nuisance for the pedestrians.

The roads had become wet and slippery due to the rain.

The rainwater entered shops and houses in the low-lying areas and people faced immense hardships due to accumulation of water on various roads along the route of the BRT.

The ditches dug up for the BRT were filled with rainwater and the water started flowing on roads, making it difficult for the motorists and pedestrians to cross it.

A motorcyclist narrowly escaped falling into a ditch dug up at Saddar Chowk for construction of an elevated pillar of BRT. And the Chowk was filled with the rainwater, making it impossible for people to cross the under-construction area.

Similar incidents were also reported from other under-construction sites of the project.

The windstorm also caused power disruption in various parts of the provincial capital. The power supply to areas of Wazir Bagh, Kohat Road, Hashtnagri, Kachi Muhallah, Dilazak Road, Khyber Bazaar, Sheikhabad, Saddar, Gulberg and Khyber Super Market locality in the Peshawar cantonment remained suspended for over four hours.

The power supply was suspended at 3:30pm and restored at 7:37pm in the evening, causing hardships to consumers. It has become a routine that power is suspended for hours whenever the city receives rain.

The rain also disrupted telephone service for hours, causing hardships to domestic and commercial consumers.

According to the regional Met office, the weather remained partly cloudy in most parts of the region. However, windstorm and rain occurred at isolated places in Peshawar Malakand, Kohat and Hazara division.

In Peshawar, the Met recorded 1 millimetre (mm) rain at Peshawar, 8mm in Kakul, 6mm in Cherat, 5mm in Saidu Sharif, 3 in Malam Jabba, 2 in Kohat, and 4 mm rain in Dir.