LAHORE
Heavy rain inundated the provincial capital on Thursday exposing the tall claims of civic bodies to clear rainwater within hours while two children, including a two-year-old girl, were killed in two incidents of roof collapse and electric shock and three people received injuries in other rain-related incidents.
Rescuers responded to the emergency calls and shifted the victims to hospitals. Roof of a house was in dilapidated condition in Chak Jhuggian area of Manawan. It collapsed during rain.
As a result, four members of a family were stranded under debris. Neighbours tried to rescue them and informed rescue officials who reached the spot and removed debris and shifted them to nearby hospital. Two-year-old Noor Fatima was pronounced dead by the doctors. Other members of the family were under treatment in the hospital.
In another incident of roof collapse near Kahna, Imran was injured. He was in his house when the roof of his house collapsed. He was shifted to a local hospital.
Yet in another incident in Sabzazar, Manan, a 10-year-old girl, who was living in huts with her gypsy parents, lost her life. She was returning home after buying something from a shop and touched an electric poll. She received electric shocks and fell into the water and became unconscious. She was shifted to a nearby hospital where doctors pronounced her brought dead.
The rainwater remained present on the city roads for several hours causing long-hour traffic jams, particularly on underpasses and major crossings. The rain which started on early hours of Thursday continued till evening. The Met office said the city received 79mm rain.
The Met officials said weak seasonal low lies over Northeast Balochistan while Wednesday’s monsoon low over Northwest Madhya Pradesh & Adjoining Rajasthan (India) lies over Northwest Rajasthan. Due to this low pressure monsoon currents are penetrating in the country and likely to continue for next three to four days.
The Met officials predicted rain-thunderstorm with gusty winds in scattered places in Punjab, Mirpurkhas division and Kashmir, while at isolated places of KP, eastern Balochistan (Zhob, Sibbi, Kalat, Nasirabad divisions), Fata, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Thatta, Sh Benazirabad, Sukkur & Hyderabad divisions. Isolated heavy fall may occur during the period.
Rainfall was recorded in other cities including Islamabad (ZP 72 mm, Saidpur 20 mm), Jhang (31 mm), Gujranwala (24 mm), Sargodha (18 mm), Sialkot (10 mm), Murree (05 mm), Bahawalnagar (04 mm), Sahiwal (03 mm), Mandi Bahauddin and Multan (01 mm), Garidupatta (22 mm), Rawalakot (04 mm), Muzaffarabad (01 mm), Chachro (09 mm), Diplo (03 mm), Nagerparker (02 mm) and Balakot (04 mm).
On Thursday highest maximum temperature was recorded at Sibbi where mercury touched 42°C while in Lahore it was 25 C.
Following the long rainy spell, the City District Government Lahore (CDGL) issued an alert besides cancelling upcoming Eid holidays of all employees of related departments.
The rain inundated cattle markets established outside the provincial capital. A large number of cattle sellers moved to different localities of the city and faced crackdown launched by CDGL.
The most affected localities were Johar Town, Allama Iqbal Town, Wahdat Road, Multan Road, Mansoora, Sabzazar, Bund Road, Samanabad, Gulshan-e-Ravi, Ichra, Shahjamal, Shadman, FC College, Model Town, General Hospital, Kahna, Kot Lakhpat, Ghazi Road, Jain Mandir, Anarkali, Walled City, railway Station, Lakhshmi Chowk and nearby localities.
The rain caused serious difficulties for commuters, particularly for the bickers. Most of the roads were submerged by ankle-deep.
Shahid of F Block Johar Town said the area of Johar Town was submerged and despite repeated calls to CDGL, Wasa and other departments concerned no one came to pump out water from the roads.
Rainwater remained on roads for several days while no one bothers to clear greenbelts and public parks which later become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, said Ms Anjum of Sunflower Colony.
Several localities around Multan Road were badly affected by rainwater as Gulshan-e-Ravi drain overflowed and dirty water entered houses in several low-lying areas. Hassan of Chauburji Quarters said he called CDGL and Wasa officials repeatedly but no one came to pump out water from the locality till evening.
A number of cars were seen stuck in rainwater on many roads. Greenbelts were full of rainwater and people were unable to even cross the roads on foot.
Awais of Anarkali said rainwater inundated Kaporthala House area and residents could not go out of their houses as trenches dug around the orange line train project were full of rainwater.
h the CDGL press release claimed that its quick response teams headed by town administrators under the supervision of DCO became active and started arrangements to clear the rainwater, but in reality no team was seen on roads during the heavy rain. The CDGL press release claimed that Lahore DCO visited many areas including Lakhshmi Chowk to inspect the dewatering process.
