Rain inundates low-lying areas, cattle markets

LAHORE
Heavy rain inundated the provincial capital here on Tuesday for several hours including major roads resulting in hours long traffic jams on all the major roads.
The rain, which started on Tuesday morning continued till evening. Met officials said the city received 142mm rain at Allama Iqbal International Airport while in city 92mm rain was recorded.
They said a westerly wave was affecting upper parts of the country, moist currents from Arabian sea were also penetrating into upper and eastern parts of the country.
They predicted widespread rain-thunderstorm (with isolated heavy falls) in Hazara, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore divisions, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, while at scattered places in upper KP (Malakand, Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat divisions), Sargodha, Sahiwal divisions, Islamabad and upper FATA.
During the next 24 hours, Met office also predicted isolated heavy falls in Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Hazara divisions, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Following the long rain spell, City District Government Lahore (CDGL) issued a red alert besides cancelling upcoming Eid holidays of all employees of related departments. The rain also inundated the cattle markets established outside the provincial capital and a very low foot count was observed there due to rain. Following this a large number of cattle sellers moved to different localities of the city and later faced the wrath of CDGL in shape of a crackdown.
The most affected localities were Johar Town, Allama Iqbal Town, Wahdat Road, Multan Road, Mansoora, Sabzazar, Bund Road, Samanabad, Gulshan-e-Ravi, Ichhara, Shah Jamal, Shadman, FC College, Model Town, Gadaffi Stadium, General Hospital, Kahna, Kot Lakhpat, Ghazi Road, Jain Mandir, Anarkali, Walled City, Railway Station, Laxmi Chowk and nearby localities.
Tuesday’s rain converted most of the city roads in small ponds where commuters faced serious inconvenience. Most of the roads submerged under ankle-deep rainwater resulting in long traffic jams. Similarly, long queues of vehicles were seen stuck on roads.
Hassan, a resident of E Block Johar Town said the area of Johar Town was submerged in over one foot water and despite repeated calls to CDGL, Wasa and other departments concerned, no one came to pump out water from inside roads and all the machinery remained busy at main roads. After every rain, accumulated rainwater remained on the roads for several days while no one bothers to clear the greenbelts as well as public parks, which later become breeding grounds of dengue mosquitoes.
A number of cars were also seen stuck in accumulated rainwater on various roads. The greenbelts were also completely full of rainwater and people were unable to even cross the roads on foot to get help as well as mechanics. Though the CDGL spokesman claimed that its quick response teams headed by Town Administrators under the supervision of DCO Lahore became active and started arrangements to clear the rainwater but in reality no team was seen on the roads during the heavy rain. CDGL spokesman said DCO Lahore visited several spots of the city, including Laxmi Chowk to inspect the ongoing dewatering process.
Meanwhile, Albayrak General Manager Operations Murat Sengur distributed awareness pamphlets among pedestrians and shopkeepers during rain. Albayrak Waste Management Company continues with its special cleanliness and awareness activities across the city prior to Eidul Azha.
GM Operations of Albayrak joined the awareness drive of Communication Department during rain and distributed awareness literature among the citizens. During the awareness activity at busy roads and markets of the city, he appealed to general public to cooperate with the company during Eid days.
He said a minor negligence in the handling of offal during rain could cause serious environment distortion; therefore, we call the public to cooperate with us.
Other cities where rain was recorded included Bahawalnagar, Okara, Bahawalpur, Mangla and Shorkot, Sahiwal, Rawalakot, Sialkot, Jhelum, Mandi Bahauddin, Kotli, Murree, Faisalabad, Gujrat, Toba Tek Singh, Sargodha, Garhi Dupatta, Kasur, Gujranwala, Parachinar, Skardu, Astore, Chakwal, Kakul, Jhang and Muzaffarabad.