As the unusual phenomenon of rain only in the afternoon hours continued in the city on the fifth consecutive day on Friday, at least five people were electrocuted to death and many areas of the city were submerged by the rainwater and sewage causing serious troubles for the residents.
Since Monday, the city has been receiving rain in the afternoon hours after the clear sky suddenly turns overcast. The rain spell is usually brief and does not last many hours. However, the rain on Friday was heavy and lasted long in some localities compared to the rainfall of the previous four days.
The reason behind this unusual weather pattern is a low-pressure area that is currently present in the Indian state of Rajasthan. However, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, the city will no more experience the effects of that low pressure area.
There are no chances of the low pressure hitting the city now, said Met Office director Sardar Sarfraz. He added that by Saturday (today), the sea breeze will most likely resume which will normalise the temperature in Karachi.
However, Sarfraz said there might still be isolated rainfalls in some parts of the city today.
According to the Met Office, it rained the most in Nazimabad on Friday with the rainfall measured at around 67.2 millimetres (mm) until 5pm. Meanwhile, 35mm of rain was recorded at Masroor Base, 2mm in Pehelwan Goth, 11mm at PAF Faisal Base, 4.5mm in Saddar, 3mm on University Road, 1.4mm at the airport, 27mm in North Karachi and 20mm in Landhi. The Gulshan-e-Hadeed area received only traces of rainfall.
Electrocution cases
Five people were electrocuted to death in various incidents on Friday. Two men died of electrocution in the SITE area. The tragic incident occurred near the Jamia Binoria al-Almia within the limits of the SITE A Section police station. Their bodies were taken to Abbassi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.
According to SHO Saleem Awan, the deceased were identified as 55-year-old Abdul Mannan, son of Abdul Wahab, a resident of Nazimabad, and 56-year-old Abdul Rauf, son of Abdullah, a resident of the Shoe Market area in Garden.
The officer said they were returning to their homes on their motorcycles separately after offering Friday prayers at the Jamia when they died of electrocution after an electricity wire fell on them during the rain.
The SHO added that no case had so far been registered as the families of the victims were busy in the funeral and burial preparations and a case would be registered if the families approached the police.
In the other incident, a 35-year-old man, Aslam, son of Salman, was brought to Civil Hospital, Karachi from the Lyari neighbourhood where doctors pronounced him dead.
The police said he was shifted to hospital after he received electric shocks while doing some electric work at his residence on Street No 6 in the Baghdadi area of Lyari.
Two minor brothers died in District Central in the evening hours after they received electric shocks at their house in the Moosa Colony area.
The victims were identified as 11-year-old Javed and 14-year-old Saleem, sons of Muhammad Shah. They died on the spot. Their bodies were shifted to Abbassi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.
A 20-year-old woman, Sumaiya, wife of Irfan, also fell unconscious after she received electric shocks while she was standing on a footpath within the limits of the Boat Basin police station. She was rushed to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medical treatment where her condition was stated to be out of danger.
Minor drowns
Meanwhile, a seven-year-old boy, Sufiyan, son of Karamat, drowned in the Lyari River near Teen Hatti within the limits of the PIB Colony police station. Reacting to the information, rescue workers reached the site and retrieved his body.
The body was shifted to Abbassi Shaheed Hospital and later handed over to the family. The police said the boy drowned while playing during the rain.
City in misery
As expected, the rain brought misery for the people due to hours-long power cuts and traffic jams due to inundated roads and overflowing manholes.
Even those major drains of Karachi, which the federal government claimed to have cleaned in its recent cleanliness drive, also overflowed on Friday.
The traffic came to a standstill on many key thoroughfares of the city, including Rashid Minhas Road, Sharea Faisal, University Road, Shahrah-e-Noor Jahan and Sher Shah Suri Road. Korangi Industrial Area and Teen Hatti were also badly affected.
The rainwater could not be drained from outside the Metropole Hotel until late night hours and massive traffic jams were observed in Saddar and on Mai Kolachi Road due to the rainwater.
District Central and Surjani Town were among the worst-affected areas after the downpour. Rainwater entered inside homes in Surjani Town, leaving the residents in a miserable condition once again, as the authorities have yet to build a proper drainage system in the area.
As the Gujjar Nullah overflowed, many areas of District Central, including Nagan Chowrangi, Shadman Town, Gulberg Town and KDA Chowrangi, were flooded. Pedestrians were seen walking in five-foot-deep water on Shahrah-e-Noor Jahan where no government machinery was present to drain out the rainwater.
Several underpasses of the city, including those in Liaquatabad and Nazimabad, were closed for traffic as they were filled with water. Dozens of cars were seen floating in rainwater in Gulshan-e-Iqbal 13-D.
Cricket enthusiasts who were heading towards the National Stadium to watch the first Pakistan-Sri Lanka match faced great inconvenience to reach the stadium as University Road was flooded in front of Urdu University. Many could not make to the stadium and a few who were successful had to face disappointment as the match was abandoned due to the rain.
According to a press statement issued by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), city wardens managed the traffic at various places and helped drivers push their broken-down cars to roadside.
The wardens were seen controlling the traffic at the Liaquatabad underpass, Nazimabad underpass, Ayesha Manzil, Karimabad, Water Pump, MA Jinnah Road, Hassan Square and several other areas of the city. Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani also issued a press statement, asking citizens to take precautionary measures during the rainfall.
He advised the people to stay inside their homes and refrain from making any contact with electric installations. He also urged the citizens not to travel on motorcycles during the rain, especially with their children and families.
The rain also caused sewers in many areas to overflow. People shared many videos on social media that showed overflowing sewage and fountains of wastewater gushing out of manholes in their localities.
However, the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (KWSB) claimed that its staff was present on ground even until late night to ensure that the rainwater was drained off.
In a statement issued, the water board said its managing director had directed all the board officials to play their role in the drainage work. The KWSB claimed that it had employed its machinery to clear the roads of rainwater.
Power cuts
The rain was also followed by prolonged power cuts in many areas, including Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Nazimabad, North Nazimabad, North Karachi, Surjani Town, PECHS and Defence Housing Authority.
K-Electric (KE) claimed that the overall power supply remained stable in the city on Friday. In a statement, the power utility said strategic locations such as hospitals and the KWSB pumping stations remained energised throughout.
KE, however, said that in some areas such as Mauripur, Defence, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and the localities with a high incidence of Kundas, power supply was temporarily suspended in the interest of public safety.
The power utility said that as many areas were inundated on Friday, its teams faced hurdles as they tried to rectify faults, which caused delay in the restoration of power supply to those areas.
KE also expressed grief over the electrocution incidents. Regarding the electrocution incident in the SITE area, it said power supply to the area was immediately suspended when it received the news of the incident. The power utility added that it would initiate an inquiry into the incident.
As for the incident of woman receiving electric shocks in Clifton, KE said the incident was caused by a street light pole wrapped with internet and TV cables, not the KE infrastructure. The power utility also asked its customers to lodge their complaints at its call centres via 118 or through SMS to 8119 or through the KE Live app.
