June 29, 2007	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 13, 1428

ISLAMABAD, June 28: Heavy rain ended the weeks-long heatwave in the sister cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Thursday afternoon, bringing the mercury down considerably and making the weather pleasant and the night cool.

The rain came as a sigh of relief to residents of the twin cities who were braving extreme temperature over the last many weeks.

They thronged parks and tourist spots, especially Pir Sohawa, Daman-i-Koh and Shakarparian soon after the rain subsided.

The downpour, which started in the afternoon and continued intermittently till the night, brought down temperature to a minimum 27 degrees Celsius in Islamabad and 28C in Rawalpindi, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department.

The temperature had been hovering between 38-47C in the twin cities over the last many weeks.

However, the day-long showers in Rawalpindi made the weather cooler, but the city witnessed bumper-to-bumper traffic as rainwater inundated the main roads as well as streets.

Traffic on the busiest Murree Road remained jammed for hours as main intersections like Chandni Chowk, Shamsabad, Marir Hassan and Moti Mahal were swamped by rainwater. Asghar Mall and Saidpur roads witnessed massive traffic snarls as they had been dug up at many spots.

Commuters faced great difficulty during the traffic congestion and were compelled to walk to their destinations.

Shopping activities in various markets including Commercial Market, Raja Bazaar, Saddar, Moti Bazaar, Murree Road and Sarafa Market came to a standstill as rainwater inundated the commercial centres.

Meanwhile, the Met office has forecast more rains and cloudy conditions in the twin cities in the next 24 hours.

Partly cloudy weather and rains with thunderstorms have also been predicted in a majority of the areas of the Punjab and NWFP.

Widespread rains, at times heavy, accompanied with gusty winds are expected in the Punjab, Kashmir and earthquake-affected areas including adjoining areas of NWFP during the next 48 hours.

Scattered rain and windy weather is also likely in Sindh and Balochistan during next 36 hours.

According to the Met office, yesterday’s well-marked low pressure area over the north and central Bay of Bengal concentrated into a depression (strong monsoon weather system) Thursday morning.

It is likely to intensify further and move in a west-northwesterly direction.

After reaching central India, the system would weaken to a low-pressure area. Later, this low pressure area may reach Sindh in next three to four days.

This system has the potential to cause widespread heavy rains and strong gusty winds in Sindh and adjoining areas of Balochistan after two or three days, a Met office announcement said.

The Met office on Thursday recorded 36mm rain in Islamabad, 37mm in Rawalpindi, 54mm in Peshawar, 30mm in Rawalakot, 27mm in Okara, 19mm in Quetta, 18mm in Jhelum and Sibbi, 17mm in Muzaffarabad, 16mm in Kala and Khuzdar, 15mm in D.I. Khan and 14mm in Zhob.