Rain inundates roads, 400 Lesco feeders break down

LAHORE : Heavy rain inundated most of the provincial metropolis here Sunday while Met office predicted more rains during the next 48 hours.

The rain, which started early morning brought city life to a standstill while hundreds of feeders of Lesco went out of order. Rainwater remained on city roads for many hours and Wasa officials, staff and machinery remained busy to drain out the stagnant rainwater.

The rain inundated all major roads, residential and commercial localities, playgrounds, stadiums, graveyards, bus stands and public parks. Wasa officials said that 78mm rain was recorded at Tajpura scheme.

Over 400 feeders of Lesco were also closed down due to the continuous rain depriving more than 40 percent of the city population of electricity. As there was no electricity in half of the city localities, residents faced serious problems in getting drinking water because they were unable to operate their motors while many tube-wells of Wasa were also silent.

Managing Director Wasa Syed Zahid Aziz said that until evening most of the 22 sore points, including Laxmi Chowk, Haji Camp, Firdos Market, Kashmir Road, GPO, Sheranwala Gate, Aik Moriya Pul, Mozang, Qartaba Chowk, Lawrence Road and Icchra were cleared of rainwater.

During the rain, most of the roads looked like mini canals and remained inundated in ankle-deep stagnant rainwater which caused serious inconvenience to road users besides causing traffic blockage at major crossings across the city. Rainwater also entered homes in many localities such as Mozang, Bhatti Gate, Pani Wala Talab, Azam Cloth Market, Johar Town, Alhamd Colony, Allama Iqbal Town, Nisbat Road, Gowalmandi, Bagh Munshi Ladha, Ravi Road, low-lying localities on Circular Road, Icchra, Shama Chowk, Fazlia Colony, Shah Jamal, Shadman, Model Town, Faisal Town, Township and etc.

Meanwhile, Met officials said that seasonal low lay over Balochistan and its adjoining areas. Monsoon currents are penetrating upper and central parts of the country. They predicted that mainly hot and humid weather is expected in most parts of the country. However, rain/wind-thunderstorm is expected at isolated places in Multan, Bahawalpur, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, Kohat, Bannu and Zhob Divisions. Rainfall was also recorded at Thatta 22mm, Mirpurkhas, Shaheed Benazirabad 02, Hyderabad, Badin 01, Bahawalnager 15, Khanpur 11, Rahim Yar Khan 04, Mandi Bahauddin 01, Khuzdar 14 and Kalam 05. Sunday’s maximum temperature was recorded at Turbat where mercury reached 44°C while in Lahore, it was 34°C and minimum was 26°C.