Lahorites visit parks after rain

LAHORE

Westerly clouds continued to cover the city skies here Sunday luring the citizens to come out of their homes and reach public parks and other entertainment places to enjoy rainy weather.

Scattered but moderate rain was observed in various parts of the city, which started early morning and continued till night. The rain completely turned the moods of Lahorities and majority of road users who used to quarrel with others in high heat were passing smiles and enjoying the splashes of water.

A little traffic jams were seen at underpasses and major crossings as motorcyclists and pedestrians used to stand in shady places during the rain, which was playing hide and seek with them. Rainwater also washed the city after which the people saw true green colour of trees, which used to submerge under layers of dust in a routine day. Public places such as Lahore Zoo, Jillani Park, Lawrance Garden, Iqbal Town Park, Model Town Park, MM Alam Road, Lahore Fort and its surroundings, Greater Iqbal Park at Azadi Chowk, Shalimar Garden and etc faced a large number of visitors. Picnickers were seen running and playing in rain at these places with their families and friends.

Azmat Khan, a resident of Gulshan-e-Ravi, said he came to Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park with his family to enjoy the weather. “I live in a two-room small house and didn’t have an air conditioner to beat the heat; so came to the park so that he and his family can enjoy natural air conditioners,” he said. Zunaira Tariq, a resident of DHA, said she came to Lahore Fort and exposing the historical building with her camera in this beautiful weather. Mustafa, a resident of Township, said he brought his younger sister and brother to Lahore Zoo.

On the other hand, Met officials said the prevailing westerly wave of moderate intensity is likely to persist in upper parts of country till Monday. They predicted that dust-thunderstorm/rain, (associated with gusty winds / few hailstorms), is expected at scattered places in KP, Punjab, Islamabad, Fata, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan and at isolated places in Quetta, Zhob, Sibbi, Naseerabad divisions. Hot and dry weather is expected elsewhere in the country.

Rainfall was also observed in other cities, including Pattan (53mm), Malam Jabba (52mm), Kohat (30mm), Kalam (18mm), Dir (16mm), Saidu Sharif (14mm), Cherat (13mm), Peshawar City and Balakot (12mm), Drosh and Peshawar A/P (09mm), Lower Dir (08mm), Chitral (06mm), Kakul (03mm), Sahiwal (22mm), Toba Tek Singh (15mm), Kot Addu (12mm), Lahore PBO, Faisalabad and Shorkot (07mm), Bahawalpur A/P and Multan (06mm), DG Khan, Joharabad, Jhang, Sargodha City, Sialkot Cantt and Gujranwala (05mm), Kamra, Mandi Bahauddin and Okara (03mm), Sialkot A/P, Lahore A/P, Mangla and Rawalpindi (02mm), Jhelum, Mianwali and Bahawalpur City (01mm), Bahawalnagar, DI Khan and Islamabad Z.P (Trace), Astore (21mm), Bagrote (14mm), Bunji (12mm), Gilgit (10mm), Chillas (07mm), Muzaffarabad (05mm), Garhi Dupatta (04mm), Kotli (01mm), Rawalakot (Trace) and Barkhan (03mm). Sunday’s maximum temperature was recorded at Sibbi, Sh Benazirabad, Padidan and Sakrand where mercury reached 44°C while it was 43°C at Dadu, Turbat and Sukkur. In Lahore, maximum temperature came down to 30°C while minimum was recorded as 21.5°C.