Karachiites suffer more power cuts, traffic jams on second day of rain

Light to moderate rain continued in the city on Thursday under the influence of a monsoon system, causing at least four deaths in electrocution, drowning and roof collapse incidents. The showers continued inflicting troubles on the city with the accumulation of rainwater at many low-lying areas and power disruption at many localities.

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), the rain system is expected to continue till Friday (today) evening and many areas of Karachi are expected to receive moderate to heavy rainfall.

“The prevailing spell of rain in Sindh is very likely to intensify in the next 24 hours, producing moderate to heavy rains in Sindh, particularly Karachi, in addition to Thatta, Jamshoro, Dadu, Kamber-Shahdadkot, Naushahro Feroze, Badin, Sanghar and Larkana districts from Thursday evening to Friday evening,” said an advisory issued by the PMD on Thursday.

The PMD officials said the expected heavy rainfall in the city on Friday could measure up to 50-70 millimetres, which might cause urban flooding. They advised the authorities to take precautionary measures accordingly.

On Thursday, intermittent rain continued in Karachi during noon and afternoon, due to which several roads in the Old City area as well as in the suburbs of the city remained inundated. Some roads also caved in at various locations, causing snarl-ups.

Severe traffic jams were witnessed in Korangi Industrial Area where a heavy trailer stuck in the hole after a road caved in due to rainwater. A similar situation was witnessed in the Sharifabad area in District Central where a road caved in, damaging several cars parked along the road.

Residents of many areas complained about having no electricity at homes as the rain started. Power supply to many areas was interrupted as the showers began. There were also reports of falling of electricity poles, breaking of electric wires and other damage to the power distribution system in the city, which deprived many areas, including Surjani Town, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Malir, Korangi, Landhi and Old City, of power that had not been restored till the filing of this report.

Casualties

Of four deaths in rain-related incidents on Thursday, two occurred due to separate roof collapse incidents, whereas, the remaining were caused by electrocution and drowning, adds our correspondent.

A 35-year-old man, identified as Fazal Nabi, son of Hosh Muhammad, died of electrocution while working at a house in Gulshan-e-Maymar within the limits of the Site Superhighway police station.

He was shifted to Abbassi Shaheed Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead. Police said his family took his body from the hospital without allowing medico-legal formalities. In another incident, a teenage boy, Abdullah, 17, son of Mir Afzal, died when he drowned in a pothole filled with rainwater in Sector 51 C Area within the limits of the Surjani Town police station. His body was shifted to Abbassi Shaheed Hospital where the family did not allow medico-legal formalities.

Police said the boy had gone out to enjoy the rain when he slipped and fell into the

pothole. Separately, a 27-year-old man, Shahid, died after the roof of his house collapsed in Mehran Town, within the limits of the Korangi Industrial Area police station. He was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre with critical injuries where he breathed his last.

Another roof collapse incident was reported in Mashriq Society in Gulshan-e-Maymar, which caused the death of a 45-year-old man, Mushtaq. His body was taken to Abbassi Shaheed Hospital.