September 5, 2003	Friday	Rajab 7, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 4: A state of emergency was declared in the federal capital in the early hours of Thursday following heavy rain in Islamabad.

According to Met office, Islamabad received 170mm of rain.

Rainwater entered the basements of the ‘P’, ‘Q’, ‘R’ and ‘S’ blocks of the Pakistan Secretariat, posing potential threat to the heavy electronic equipment and airconditioning system installed there.

The call for help from the Pak Secretariat was received at the Flood Relief Cell at about 7am and suction pumps were immediately rushed to the spot to drain water. The job at the Pak Secretariat was completed after 1pm and the basements of all these blocks were cleared.

However, emergency was declared in the federal capital at about 1am after distress calls were received at the Flood Control and Relief Cell (FCRC) set up in the federal capital at the start of the monsoon season.

The head of the FCRC, Syed Mustafain Kazmi, put the staff on high alert and rescue/relief operations were immediately launched to prevent damage and protect the endangered houses and commercial buildings in the federal capital.

“The late-night spell of rain was very heavy. It had been raining during the day as well, but the spell which started at around 10:30 or 11pm was much stronger. Rainwater coupled with the torrents coming down from the Margallas caused some damage and water entered the basements of many houses and commercial plazas. Some trees also fell on a few major roads, causing complete road blocks,” Mustafain Kazmi told Dawn.

He said the authority’s chairman, Chaudhry Abdur Rauf, personally monitored the control and relief operation for some time after emergency was declared in the wake of distress calls received at the Control Room.

Fortunately the ‘kutchi abadis’ of the federal capital, which were badly hit during the last floods in Islamabad a couple of years ago, remained safe.

“This was mainly because most of the water courses had been cleared,” sources in the CDA said.

Rainwater entered into the basements of several houses in various parts of the city in addition to a number of commercial plazas in Blue Area and Markaz F-10. I-8 sector was worst hit by the rains where five complaints of water entering basements were received. In Sector G-6/3, three such complaints were received while from sector F-7 and F-10, one and two such complaints were received, respectively.

The FCRC staff immediately launched relief efforts and water was drained from the houses and commercial plazas with the help of suction pumps.

The roads, which had been blocked because of the fallen trees, were cleared by the FCRC staff before the morning rush hour of traffic.

During the last 24 hours, Rawalpindi received 112mm, Attock, 105mm; Peshawar, 44mm; Murree, 25mm and Lahore received 11mm of rain.

The Met office in Islamabad has predicted partly cloudy weather with chances of rain and thunderstorm for Islamabad and adjoining areas in the next 24 hours.

“The heat low is accentuated due to a westerly wave resulting in the prevailing weather conditions. Such conditions continue to change quite fast and we may see a certain change in the next 12 hours,” the Met office sources told Dawn.

Nawabshah in Sindh remained the hottest place in the country with temperature as high as 40 degrees centigrade.