38mm rainfall proves enough to bring Karachi to a standstill

A brief but heavy spell of the ongoing winter season’s first rain in Karachi, which began late on Sunday night, brought the city life to a standstill with almost all major thoroughfares of the city inundated on several places, many caved-in roads and streets causing agonising traffic jams and the entire city plunged into darkness due to power breakdown.

As the downpour disrupted power system of the city, four men died as they received electric shocks from poles and electrical appliances. Compared to Lahore which takes at least 250 to 350 millimetres (mm) of rainfall to develop a situation of urban flooding, Karachi’s streets were completely inundated with a mere 38 mm of rainfall that lasted only for 30 to 40 minutes, weather experts said.

They added that as authorities did not take the rain forecast seriously, even a brief spell of heavy downpour paralysed the entire city, which might take a couple of days to return to normality.

The first rain of the winter season started at around 11:30 pm on Sunday night with light drizzle but soon it transformed into a brief but heavy downpour during which the entire city received rainfall ranging between a minimum of 10 to a maximum of 38 mm that resulted in a situation like urban flooding in most of the areas, causing complete power breakdown in the city, massive traffic jams, closure of many schools and businesses on Monday as well as low attendance at workplaces.

“During the first spell of the rain that started on Sunday night, University Road and Gulistan-e-Jauhar received a maximum of 38 mm of rain under the influence of a westerly system while Landhi and adjoining areas received 31 mm, Pehelwan Goth 29mm, Airport 15 mm, and Nazimabad and Gulshan-e-Hadid 10 mm,” Karachi Met Office Director Abdur Rashid said, adding that people in some areas of the city also reported hails pouring along with the rain.

Another spell of the rain started on Monday afternoon during which Sharea Faisal received around 9mm of rain while the PAF Masroor Base and its adjoining areas received around 6 mm, Rashid said.

Submerged roads

The first spell of the rain, which ended around 12:45 am on Monday, left most of the roads of Karachi inundated. The situation persisted till the morning. Commuters were agonised as it took half an hour to cover small distances due to badly flooded thoroughfares. Hundreds of vehicles broke down in the knee-deep waters that had accumulated at most of the low-lying areas of the city.

The roads situation was worst in District East as University Road, which is one of the major arteries of the city, was flooded on multiple places and cars had to precariously pass through such spots with their tyres immersed in water. Many roads and streets in Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Gulshan-e-Iqbal also looked rivulets.

All major roads in Federal B Area, including Shahrah-e-Pakistan and Rashid Minhas Road, were also inundated. As the drains were choked, they could not get rid of rainwater accumulated on the roads.

Similar situation was witnessed in the Landhi and Korangi areas where nullahs and drains overflowed, causing flooding. In some areas, people reported that sewage-mixed rainwater entered inside residential buildings, causing extreme inconvenience to the people.

Several roads had still not been cleared of water till Monday night when this report was filed. Witnessing the turmoil on Sunday night, many schools announced that they would remain closed on Monday. Attendance remained thin at the educational institutions, including colleges and universities, which were not closed. Public transport also did not operate on Monday due to flooded roads and many people could not go to their workplaces.

Deaths from electrocution

At least four people were killed on Monday in rain-related incidents in the metropolis, add our correspondents. All the four deaths resulted due to electrocution. The families of the deceased took the bodies from hospitals without allowing medico-legal formalities.

A 23-year-old man, Rahim Shah, son of Ameer Alam, died of electrocution at Jubilee Furniture Market within the limits of the Nabi Bux police station. His body was shifted to Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital, Karachi. According to police officials, the deceased had received electric shocks from a pole in the area.

An 18-year-old youth, Danish, son of Ghulam Moiuddin, died after he touched an electricity pole in North Nazimabad within the limits of the Khawaja Ajmer Nagri police station. His body was shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

Wajahat Ali, 26, died while he was busy in electric work inside a house in Bijli Nagar in Orangi Town. His body was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. A 20-year-old youth, Asif, lost his life when he received electric shocks from an electric water cooler at a factory in SITE area. His body was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

Power breakdown

The downpour at night also caused power breakdown in several areas of the city. The reasons cited for the power cut were local faults and preventive measures of K-Electric (K-E) against electrocution incidents.

In many locations, the power supply was resumed after several hours. The affected areas included Gulistan-e-Jauhar, North Nazimabad, Federal B Area, North Karachi, Baldia Town, PECHS and some pockets in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Clifton, Defence and Scheme 33.

The rain spell in the afternoon hours was again followed by power breakdown in many areas. A spokesperson for KE said the power supply had been restored in many areas by the evening.

The spokesperson also claimed that that the power utility had reacted swiftly to the situation and made efforts to restore power. “Power supply to strategic installations including key hospitals, KWSB pumping stations, and airport remained unaffected throughout.”

The KE also advised the residents of Karachi to stay away from snapped wires, electric poles and transformers.

Unprepared govt

The Sindh and local governments were apparently unprepared to deal with the rain as no prompt action from their side was observed.

Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar could not be reached for his comments. Among the chairmen of the district municipal corporations (DMCs) of the city, DMC Central Chairman Rehan Hashmi, and DMC East Chairman Moeed Anwar were seen on roads with their staff.

Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani made a round of the city after the rainfall on Sunday night and expressed concern over stagnant rainwater on roads, particularly Sharea Faisal and University Road.

Action would be taken against the officers who had failed to perform their duties, Ghani said. Show-cause notices would be issued to those who were responsible for draining out water from roads after the rainfall, he added.

Later, a meeting was held at Ghani’s office which was attended by the Karachi commissioner, Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) managing director and all the chairmen of the six DMCs.

The local government minister directed the participants to submit reports and videos after cleaning rainwater from the roads. The officials of the DMCs and SSWMB, however, complained of lack of resources due to which they were unable to perform.