Heavy rain brings life to a halt

LAHORE Heavy rain hit the city Friday and drowned majority of the city roads and major crossings for several hours while Met Office predicted similar weather conditions for the next 24 hours.

The rain started at noon and continued for an hour. Railway Station, Badami Bagh, Ravi Road, Shahdara, Chauburji, Samanabad, The Mall, Laxmi Chowk, Mayo Hospital, Gwalmandi, Urdu Bazaar, Brandreth Road, Rehman Gallian, Mcleod Road, Davis Road, Garhi Shahu and many adjacent localities were affected by the rain.

The heavy rain also disrupted traffic on several roads while many people were seen pushing their cars and bikes in knee-deep stagnant rainwater. Many people were seen standing under shades, trees and underpasses to save themselves from rain.

The highest rainfall, 131 mm, was recorded at Fakharabad, said Wasa Managing Director Syed Zahid Aziz. He said following the advance information by Met Office, Wasa had kept empty all the wet wells of disposal stations for rainwater. He claimed that all major city roads were cleared of rainwater till 6 p.m. Met officials said seasonal low lay over northwest Balochistan while weak monsoon currents from Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal were continuously penetrating the upper and central parts of the country and were likely to strengthen from Sunday.

They predicted that rain-thundershower was expected at isolated places in Malakand, Hazara, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Zhob and Kalat divisions, Islamabad, FATA, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.Hot and humid weather is expected elsewhere in the country. Rainfall was recorded in a number of other cities, including Lahore (AP, 61), Cherat, 71mm, Peshawar (A/P, 32, City, 8), Kohat, 30, Saidu Sharif, 21, Malamjabba, Risalpur, 17, Dir, 13, Balakot, 3, Kakul 2, Okara, 63, Shorkot, 34, Sargodha, 32, Islamabad (Bokra, 13, Golra, 1), Jhang 11, Jhelum, 7, Chakwal, 4, Multan, Sahiwal, 1, Ziarat, 20, Khuzdar, 10, Barkhan, 4 and Rawalakot, 6mm. Friday's highest temperature was recorded at Nokkundi and Dalbandin where the mercury reached 46°C while in Lahore, it was 27°C and minimum 23°C.