Heavy rain brings life to a halt

LAHORE :Heavy rain was witnessed in the provincial metropolis on Thursday night while Met Office predicted more rains during the next 48 hours.

The rain which started late in the evening brought the routine life in the City to a standstill while hundreds of feeders of Lesco also went out of order due to it. Rainwater remained on the roads for many hours and Wasa officials, including, its managing director, were on their toes to drain out the stagnant rainwater.

All major roads, residential and commercial localities, playgrounds, stadiums, graveyards, bus stands and public parks were filled with rainwater. Wasa officials said that rainwater was effectively drained out from all the main choking points even during the rain. Wasa MD Syed Zahid Aziz along with his team visited 22 sore points, including Laxmi Chowk, Haji Camp, Firdous Market, Kashmir Road, GPO Chowk, Sheranwala Gate, Aik Moriya Pull, Mozang, Qartaba Chowk, Lawrence Road and Ichhra where he passed immediate instructions to the staff for clearance of rainwater.

Meanwhile, Met officials predicted heavy falls in Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Potohar region and Kashmir on Friday (today) and Saturday. They warned that heavy rainfall might generate flash flooding in Zhob, Musa Khel, Loralai, DI Khan, Bannu, Karak, Waziristan, Dir, Malakand, Swat, Peshawar, Mardan, Hazara and Kashmir during the rainy spell. The officials warned that due to torrential rains, there would be increased risk of land sliding on the highways of Kashmir, Gilgit, Malakand, Dir and Hazara. They added that extreme rainfall, hailstorm and wind-thunderstorm might threaten partial loss to wheat crop in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Upper Punjab. The Met officials said that a strong westerly wave was affecting most upper and central parts of the country and was likely to persist till Saturday. They predicted that rain and wind-thunderstorm was expected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, Punjab, Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Upper Sindh. Heavy falls/hailstorms are also expected at a few places in Kashmir, upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, upper Punjab and northeast Balochistan. Torrential and continued rains may generate flash flooding in local nullahs. Dust-raising winds are also expected in lower Sindh, including Karachi.

Thursday’s minimum temperature, -02°C, was recorded at Astore while in Lahore it was 12°C and maximum was 21.5°C.