Three die of electrocution in second monsoon spell

At least three people and several sacrificial animals were electrocuted to death in different areas of Karachi as the second rain spell of the 2019 monsoon lashed the city on Saturday.

The rain also caused severe traffic jams after many roads were submerged with rainwater. Many locations of the city also suffered power breakdown following the rain.

The monsoon spell, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) will continue today (Sunday) and the city is expected to receive more heavy rain.

In the earlier monsoon rain in the city, which started on July 29, as many as 28 people lost their lives, most of whom had died of electrocution.

Casualties

During the rain on Saturday, a youth died of electrocution in Mianwali Colony in the Manghopir area. His body was shifted to Abbassi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.

Police officials said he was identified as 25-year-old Raees Nawab, son of Khan Zareen. He received electric shocks while he was trying to repair a machine at his house.

Another youth, 27-year-old Shahbaz, son of Ghulam Hussain, was electrocuted to death in the Bhains Colony area within the limits of the Sukkan police station. His body was taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

The third person who died of electrocution was 17-year-old Kaif, son of Waheed. He was electrocuted to death near his residential apartment in the Soldier Bazaar area of District East. His body was taken to Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK).

Police officials said the teenager received electric shocks when he came out of his apartment to see a cow that had died of electrocution.

A death due to drowning was also reported on Saturday. Seven-year-old Saleha, daughter of Jamil Buksh, died after she drowned at a tank in Baldia Town. Police officials said she was playing outside her residence in rain when she fell into an underground tank that had been filled with rainwater. Her body was shifted to CHK.

Seven cows died due to electrocution in various parts of the city. Two of them were electrocuted to death in Ansu Goth in the Malir area while three died in the Soldier Bazaar area after an electricity wire fell on them. Two more sacrificial animals died of electrocution in Soldier Bazaar and Federal B Area.

Met Office forecast

“Karachi received two strong spells of rain under the influence of well-marked low pressure area on Saturday morning and evening while we are expecting another strong spell of rain tonight as well as heavy rains throughout Sunday in Karachi,” said Sardar Sarfraz, PMD chief meteorological officer, as he spoke to The News on Saturday evening.

The PMD officer said a thick cloud-mass was spread over entire Sindh including Karachi at the moment and these thick clouds were expected to cause heavy or very heavy rain in Karachi from Saturday night till Sunday midnight.

Sarfraz advised the authorities to remain cautious as one or two strong spells of rain could result in urban flooding.

Among various areas of the city, Surjani Town received around 53 millimetres (mm) of rainfall while 30 to 35 mm of rain was recorded in other parts of the city including Airport, University Road, Saddar and Malir.

Traffic condition

Although rainwater was wiped off one of the most important arteries of the city, Sharea Faisal, many major roads of the city, such as Sher Shah Suri Road in District Central, which connects Surjani Town to MA Jinnah Road, were completely submerged.

Sher Shah Suri Road is the same road where the Green Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is being constructed. Apart from it, six flyovers are also under construction on the road, due to many portions of the road are already squeezed for the traffic.

When the road was visited during the rain, it was almost completely submerged and the construction work posed great hindrance in the drainage of rainwater.

Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah, during his visit to the city, pointed out that the Green Line BRT, which is being constructed by the federal government, had been immensely troubling the commuters and residents of District Central.

In the Nazimabad area, many manholes were open contrary to the claims of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB). Residents of the area had inserted long wooden sticks in the manholes to warn the pedestrians not to step over them as they were not visible on the submerged roads. As sewage had not been removed from Gulshan Chowrangi towards Nipa, the situation worsened after the rainfall causing slow traffic movement.

According to the traffic DIG’s traffic awareness social media unit, the accumulation of water on Rashid Minhas Road from Gulshan Chowrangi to Imtiaz Super Store had caused traffic jams.

Flooding was also reported at Teen Talwar and Do Talwar. Severe traffic jams were also reported in many areas of District Malir and District Korangi, including Korangi Industrial Area, Malir Halt and Kala Board.

Official visits

Nasir visited different areas of the city and directed the officials to keep the drains of the city flowing. Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar and Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi also visited some areas of the city and monitored their Clean Karachi Campaign.

The local government minister claimed that most of the underpasses of the city were clear and the government would not let them turn into swimming pools. He said Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had directed all the ministers to play their due roles during the rainfall.

Speaking on the issue of Saadi Town which gets flooded during rainfall, Nasir said the NOC issued for the town was wrong. He said a rainwater drain was being constructed for such areas after which there would not be flooding there.

Nasir, Zaidi and Akhtar together visited drains in Orangi and Lyari where they directed the officials to be prepared for any emergency situation.

The Clean Karachi Campaign under which the city’s major drains are being cleaned on a massive level was partially affected as the cleaning work at Nehr-e-Khayyam, Gujjar Nullah and few other drains was stopped for a while due to rainfall. Zaidi tweeted a video of a drain in District South and said five days ago it was clogged with garbage. “See it now. We won’t stop till we get the job done.”