February 11, 2007	Sunday	Muharram 22, 1428

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LAHORE, Feb 10: Widespread rain in Punjab, the NWFP and the Northern Areas on Saturday disrupted life and usual activities in many cities, including Lahore.

Frequent power breakdowns and suspension of water supply added to the inconvenience the people faced in urban centres. Low-lying areas remained flooded in the city as elsewhere.

The rain also dropped temperatures in almost all cities by five to eight degrees Celsius, bringing back nip in the air.

The meteorological office said many cities had more rain during the past 24 hours than was normally expected in February. Punjab will continue to receive rain for another 24 hours whereas the NWFP and the Northern Areas, including Azad Kashmir, will have showers during the next three days.

The westerly system was very strong and causing rain and snow over the hills in India and Nepal, a senior Met official said. The system moved out from Balochistan and Sindh and, therefore, those places did not receive any significant amount of rain on Saturday, he added.

In Lahore, rain continued throughout the day with brief intervals. It was followed by strong wind having a maximum velocity of 56km an hour at 12.15pm, uprooting small plants and billboards at many places.

Many streets were submerged under rainwater that made it hard for the people, especially pedestrians, to pass that way. Frequent power breakdowns in most localities affected tubewells, causing a dearth of water in many parts of the city.

Traffic jams were witnessed on busy roads like the Mall because of rain and slow vehicular movement. Attendance in offices and schools remained low. Business activity, too, was affected at the city’s wholesale centres and markets because of low turnout of customers.

The maximum temperature dropped from Friday’s 21 degrees C to 16 degrees and humidity was 89 per cent in the morning and 78 per cent in the evening. The Met office forecast continuation of the same weather conditions till Sunday evening.

It also reported widespread rain in the NWFP and the Northern areas with snow over the hills.

According to it, Bannu received 45mm of rain, Islamabad (41mm), Sargodha (38mm), Okara and Peshawar City (28mm each), Mianwali (26mm), Jhelum (24mm), Dera Ismail Khan (22mm), Mandi Bahauddin (21mm), Jhang and Rawlakot (17mm each), Faisalabad (14mm), Murree (13mm), Parachinar (9mm), and Kakul, Bahawalpur and Sahiwal received 7mm each.