Rain, gusty winds disrupt life in city

Electricity knocked down in many
parts as 250 feeders trip; thousands caught in traffic jams for hours

Karachi

Moderate to heavy rain along with gusty winds wreaked havoc on life in the city on Saturday, causing massive traffic jams and knocking down electricity in several parts of the city for several hours.

Sharea Faisal and the adjoining arteries leading to the city’s centre, and University Road, which has already been in a serious mess at several intersections, witnessed scenes of traffic chaos till the late evening, causing great hardships to commuters. The drainage system at various spots did not function up to its capacity, resulting in rainwater inundating roads.

Thousands of people remained stuck in hours-long traffic jams on Sharea Faisal, Rashid Minhas Road, Tariq Road, Baloch Colony, Khalid Bin Waleed, Road, Shahrah-e-Quaideen, Sindhi Muslim Society, Korangi Road, Korangi Expressway and the adjoining arteries. Many vehicles broke down in the stagnant rainwater and many more ran out of fuel.

According to the Met Office, the maximum rain of 54mm was recorded at Karachi Airport, followed by 33.5mm of rain on University Road. At the Gulistan-e-Jauhar observatory of Met Office 22.6mm of rain was recorded, North Karachi received 12.8mm of rain, 10mm of rain fell at PAF Faisal, 5mm in Gulshan-e-Hadeed, 4.5mm in North Nazimabad and Keamari received 2mm of rain. 

The Met Office recorded the maximum wind speed of 44 nautical miles per hour as gusts from north westerly direction lashed the city. 

Before the hour-long spell of rain began, the city witnessed a sizzling weather till noon as the maximum temperature recorded was 37 degrees Centigrade while the minimum mercury level was 28.5 degrees with 85 percent humidity in the air.

The metropolis received rain and experienced a thunderstorm-like situation, especially in its eastern parts, under a nationwide monsoonal system, which, according to the Met Office, could cause good monsoon rains and thunderstorms at a number of places in the country, particularly on Saturday and Sunday.

A spokesman for the Met Office said on the Meteorological Department’s website that strong monsoon currents were entering the country and a westerly wave was also expected to grip upper parts during the next 24 hours.  

Under the influence of these weather conditions, rains and thundershowers with isolated heavy falls were expected at a number of places in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Kashmir.

Besides Karachi, the town of Chorr in Sindh received 10mm of rain. 

The Met Office has given forecast partly cloudy/cloudy weather with chances of thunderstorm and rain in the city in the next 24 hours.

As has been the norm, several parts of the city remained without electricity till the late evening as the electricity distribution system of K-Electric was heavily affected due to heavy rain and gusty winds. 

A minimum of 250 feeders tripped out of a total of 1,400 feeders in the city. Of the affected feeders, 50 feeders were re-energized immediately whereas the remaining 200 were restored within a few hours, claimed a KE spokesman. 

The affected areas included North Karachi, Landhi, parts of Gulshan-e-Iqbal and North Nazimabad, as well as few pockets in Defence, said the spokesman.

The overall system remained intact during the downpour, and the power supply to strategic installations, including the airport and the Dhabeji pumping station, remained uninterrupted.

According to the KE spokesman, rapid response teams remained alert following the prediction of rain and responded swiftly for restoring electricity to the affected areas. 

The KE helpline and ground teams continued to work round the clock to address any localised faults, he claimed. 

However, contrary to these claims, parts of Defence View and Defence and some areas were without electricity as complaints poured in to this effect till the filing of this report at night.

 The heavy rain again put to test the nascent provincial administration led by the new chief minister of the PPP’s Sindh government, Syed Murad Ali Shah. 

Earlier, on August 5 and 6m, heavy monsoon showers had compelled the CM to venture out and visit several parts of the city in order to check the working of civic agencies and rainwater drainage from roads following reports of a serious alarming situation in several low-lying areas. 

At that time rainwater overflowed from storm-water drains into several adjoining low-lying localities, causing urban flooding-like situation for their dwellers.

On Saturday, the CM went for an aerial view of the city after rains. His helicopter took off from Government Degree Commerce and Economics College situated near the CM House.

Shah directed the authorities concerned to take emergency measures for drainage, cleanliness, civic and health systems of the city. He also directed the commissioner to put on alert the entire city’s administration to clear the rainwater and also take measures to resolve related civic problems causing hardships to citizens. 

He said the commissioner should make the city’s administration do its work so that citizens could enjoy the latest rain rather than suffer due to the downpour.

In the night before Friday, the CM along with his cabinet members visited several parts of the city to inspect ongoing development works.

He is overseeing affairs related to the administration of the city as the elected municipal leadership of Karachi is about to take over and start work following the completion of the last tier of local government elections in the city on August 24.

Local Govt Minister Jam Khan Shoro also directed the managing-director of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board and the administrator of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation to take emergency steps for tackling the situation arising out of monsoonal rains as there was forecast for more rain in the city in the coming days.