August 06, 2006	Sunday	Rajab 10, 1427

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LAHORE, Aug 5: Widespread rain in Lahore and other parts of the Punjab on Saturday paralysed life as it inundated low-lying areas besides disrupting power supply and telephone service.

Lahore district government de-watering sets could not clear areas like Lakshmi Chowk till 8pm. There were reports of traffic jams because of inundation of major roads and crossings.

Rain dropped temperature to a maximum of 26.2 degrees and made weather pleasant but people faced a great deal of inconvenience because of disruption in power supply.

There was light intermittent rain till around 10am. At 11m a heavy spell of rain lashed the city for two hours which was followed by drizzle till late in the afternoon.

By 5pm the local Met office had recorded 28mm of rain at its Jail Road observatory and 19mm at the airport. It expected more rain with moderate to heavy falls in the city during the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the Met office reported widespread rain in many cities in the province, the NWFP and the Northern Areas due to what it said the accentuated seasonal low over Balochistan, a westerly wave over the Northern Areas and the increased incursion of monsoon current. It said there was a monsoon low pressure over India but it was still far away.

Pakistan Meteorological Department’s Regional Director Muhammad Riaz said the country would continue to have more rains with isolated heavy spells during the next 24 hours. Even the southern Punjab could also have rain, he said, adding the rains had played havoc in the Northern Areas and the NWFP because of landsliding and flooding of stormwater channels.

RIVERS: According to the Flood Forecasting Division, the river Chenab was in high flood at Marala, Khanki and Qadirabad. Indus was in medium flood at Tarbela, Kalabagh and Chashma. It was in low flood at Taunsa and Guddu. The river Ravi too was in low flood at Balloki.

It expected fairly widespread rain over the upper catchments of all the rivers. As a result the river Indus would be in medium flood at Tarbela, and medium to high flood at Kalabagh during the next 24 hours. The river Chenab would be in high flood at Khanki and Qadirabad.