Joy and death

The heavy rains which fell intermittently throughout the day in Lahore on Thursday brought joy to thousands, as they revelled in the improved weather. But with this came also the inevitable share of misery, with three killed in the rain-related incidents that occur each year. The victims included two small girls who died in roof collapses and a teenager who was electrocuted after his motorcycle hit a pole. The flooded rains also added to the civic problems of a city already beset with them, exposing inadequate drainage even along newly built roads, and holding up traffic at some points for hours at a time. It is strange that even after years of effort, Lahore has been unable to set up a working drainage system. Indeed, the systems installed nearly a century ago along roads such as the Mall seem to operate better than more recent engineering efforts.

The rain in the city, which amounted to 82mm at some points, was caused by a low over Rajasthan. The Meteorological Office has forecast further rain over the coming days for Lahore and most of Punjab. Smaller towns in the province are of course even less equipped to deal with the hazards that the monsoon season brings. These include prolonged power breakdowns, with 150 transformers tripping in the provincial capital alone resulting in a major electricity failure in many parts of the city through the latter half of Thursday. We can look forward to more such misfortune in the coming days, alongside the traditional pleasures that the monsoon season brings, with people flocking to parks or other open spaces to celebrate the relief from the searing heat the city has experienced over the past two months. Joy and misery visit us together, and the ratio is divided also by economic class with the less privileged encountering the greater share of discomfort and danger compared to the privileged. In this context, the issues of transport systems and infrastructure become even more glaring. Perhaps, our town planners need to go back to the drawing boards to understand how a city like Lahore is to be planned and developed further.