Six killed as heavy rain plays havoc in Punjab

Ag Agencies

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Six people including a minor and a woman were drowned to death while several injured in flooded water during heavy rain Thursday, police said.

In Police Foundation, a 31-year old woman and her 9-month-old son drowned in water drained in basement of the house. Their dead bodies have been shifted to PIMS. While, seven people fell unconscious when they drowned in drain in the same area. They were rescued by Rescue-1122 and shifted to hospital.

In another incident, a 17-year-old boy Aurangzeb son of Javed drowned into drain water during heavy rain in River Sohan. He was living in Bala Kot, Sihala.

One, Mohammad Imran, an advocate by profession, was drowned in a Nullah in PWD, Rescue-1122 said. His body could not be traced out till the filing of this report.

Talking to media, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Farooq Butt said a young boy who jumped into water at Sihala bridge while bathing was still missing. The Rescue team was searching the missing boy, he added.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Meteorological Department has forecast very heavy falls in Rawalpindi division during the week.

Water level has risen by 7 to 8 feet in Nullah Leh at Gawalmandi in Rawalpindi.

According to media reports the routine life has been disrupted in different cities of Punjab including Lahore because of heavy rain. According to Wasa MD Muhammad Tanvir the water outflow continues from low lying areas and the holidays of staff has been cancelled. While talking to media Sheikh Rashid said that Rawalpindi has received 150ml of rainfall. According to Meteorology Department Saidpur has received 127ml rainfall while Islamabad and its surroundings received 77ml rainfall and in Shamsabad 86ml rainfall has been recorded.

On the other hand, Chief Minister of Punjab Usman Buzdar said that Wasa and related authorities should utilise all available resources for drainage from low level areas. He said that all officers should remain in the field until the drainage is completed. Traffic authorities must take effective steps to maintain traffic flow and during the rain people should not face difficulties in travelling.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) also issued a river and urban flood warning on Thursday.

A statement from the department said widespread rains and wind-thunderstorm are expected in different parts of the country, especially in Islamabad and different districts in eastern Punjab, northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwest Balochistan provinces and in Azad Kashmir during the next 12 hours.

"Strong monsoon currents from Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal entered into upper parts of the country on Wednesday and likely to spread to central and southern parts from Thursday to Saturday," said the PMD.

Persistent torrential monsoon rains have badly disrupted life across several cities of Pakistan during the past 24 hours, turning streets into streams, causing traffic jams and upsetting power supply due to unusual weather developments on the east and west of the country.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority, rescue teams are working in the affected areas, while rescue squads of Pakistan army have also been asked to stand alert to deal with an emergency situation. The authorities have also issued a warning of high to very high floods in upstream of River Chenab and in River Indus along with their tributaries, adding that heavy rain may generate flash flooding in local riverine.

Showers and thunderstorms are expected to lash the city till Saturday, according to Pakistan Metrological Department.

Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Sargodha are also expected to be inundated by water collected from the rains. Moreover, high floods are expected in the upstream of Mangla, River Chenab and Indus.

Due to heavy rains, power outage caused further misery to residents as 180 feeders tripped of Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco).

Reportedly the Railway service, domestic and international flights schedule at Islamabad International Airport were also affected badly. Several commuters got stuck in rain water on Murree Road, Peshawar Road, Kuri Road, Liaquat Bagh, Shangrila Hotel, Committee Chowk and Pirwadhai Underpasses, Muslim Town and Ashraf Town were also flooded with heavy rain triggering traffic jam.