Authorities fail Karachiites yet again as rain continues to play havoc with city

Intermittent rain continued to lash different areas of Karachi on Monday under the influence of a low pressure area that has been in the north Arabian Sea for the last four to five days.

Officials of the Pakistan Meteorological Department said light to moderate rain was expected to continue in the city on Tuesday as well.

“A low pressure area or rain-causing system is present over north Arabian Sea and the adjoining coastal belt of Sindh till the Indian state of Gujrat. Under the influence of this system, we had moderate to heavy rain on Sunday and Monday while we are expecting a few light to moderate showers on Tuesday also in Karachi,” said Sardar Sarfraz, the PMD chief meteorological officer.

In Karachi, Landhi received 18 millimetres (mm) of rain on Monday followed by 13mm at Faisal Base, 10mm in Saddar, PMD officials said. Other areas of the city, including North Karachi, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Federal B Area, Malir, Clifton and Defence, also received light to moderate showers, causing manholes to overflow and roads to submerge in rainwater and sewage.

Sarfraz said they were expecting more rains in the coming days as another monsoon low was brewing in the Bay of Bengal. Karachi could have one or two more spells of monsoon rainfall in the month of September, he explained.

“We are keeping an eye over the rain-causing systems and as soon as something worth reporting appears, we would make the people aware of it,” he added.

Dams overflow

The two-day intermittent rainfall caused the Thado and Lath dams to overflow, submerging the Kathore Link Road and the M9 Motorway between Karachi and Hyderabad at two points, the Northern Bypass and near the Baqai University and Dumba Goth, adds Oonib Azam.

Sindh Irrigation Department Chief Engineer Syed Sardar Shah explained to The News that Lath and Thado were two different tributaries of the Malir River.

He said it took three hours for the water to reach the M9 at the Northern Bypass when it rains in the Lath’s catchment area in Hub district. After crossing the Northern Bypass, he said, the rainwater had hit several societies constructed along the M9, including Saadi Town, Saadi Gardens and New Sazbi Mandi.

As for the Thado Dam, when it overflows, it affects Dumba Goth and the areas surrounding the Baqai University, Shah said. There were massive traffic jams due to the rain on various roads in the city, including II Chundrigar Road, Rashid Minhas Road and Sharea Faisal. Areas of District Central such as Nagan Chowrangi, Power House Chowrangi, UP Mor, Gulberg and Shadman Town remained flooded causing severe distress to the residents.

Many storm water drains overflew after the rain and brought the garbage and filth inside them on roads. The Do Talwar area in District South and PECHS in District East were also flooded.

Power situation

K-Electric’s (KE) KDA grid station at Scheme 33 near the M9 also faced the danger of flooding. According to a press statement from the power utility, the floodwater had reached the wall of the grid station on Monday night.

The statement read that due to adequate safety measures at the station, water could not enter it. It, however, added as there was no proper drainage mechanism, the grid station still faced the danger of water entering it in case more floodwater reached there.

According to the statement, if water entered the station, the power supply from the grid station could be interrupted. The power utility appealed to the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation to make arrangements for the drainage of rainwater.

Meanwhile, power supply was cut in several areas of the city after the rainfall on Monday. The affected areas included North Karachi, Federal B Area and Old City.

The KE requested the citizens to avoid going near broken wires and power installations. Teams of the power utility were on the ground to restore power to the affected areas, the statement said. The power utility maintained that the power supply was suspended in Baldia Town, Korangi, Bin Qasim, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Orangi Town and other areas of the city for safety concerns.