July 06, 2008	Sunday	Rajab 2, 1429

RAWALPINDI, July 5: A heavy downpour of an early monsoon wreaked havoc on the city, killing at least three people, including a teenaged girl on Saturday, besides damaging properties and civic facilities.

The Nullah Leh swelled and burst its banks triggering alarm sirens to warn the people to vacate their houses and shift to safer places.

The flood water drowned two men in the city and a teenaged girl nearby Kalar Sayedan town and inundated houses and shops in low-lying areas.

The body of a 70-year-old Shabbir Shah, resident of Dhoke Illahi Bukhsh, was recovered by Rescue 1122 personnel from Nullah Leh near Moti Plaza at Murree Road. He was stated to be mentally retarded.

The body of the 35-year-old Mohammad Saeed, a resident of Faisalabad and an employee of Pakistan Navy, was recovered from Jamshed Colony in Sadiqabad.

Naila Altaf, 13, drowned in a nullah in Kalar Syedan.

The Met office said 107-millimetre rain was recorded in Islamabad and 167-millimetre rain in Rawalpindi. The three-hour heavy downpour forced the city authorities to blow sirens in 10 different points of the city and cantonment areas to alert the residents living on the banks of Nullah Leh.

The city administration has set up warning stations at Ratta, Ganjmandi, Pirwadhai, Gowalmandi, TMA building, Arya Mohallah, Moti Mahal, Khayaban-i-Sir Syed, Pir Wadhai bus terminal and Dhoke Chiragh Din.

Residents of Sadiqabad complained of the poor service of sanitation staff as according to them the deluge came due to choked drains inundating streets and roads in the area.

It is pertinent to note that no residents in low-lying areas were prepared to leave their houses when sirens blew indicating that the level of flood water has started to rise. Through mega phones, residents were kept alerted about the situation. In one locality, resident pelted stones on the vehicles of Rescue 1122 for delayed arrival.

In the cantonment area, landsliding at Kumhar Road has put life and property at risk. Residents said the landsliding started due to the stalled Shaikh Rashid Expressway project affecting a vast land of old Gowalmandi, reducing the clearance under the main bridge on Jinnah Road, formerly known as City Saddar Road. The residents fear, if landsliding was not stopped, the entire old Gowalmandi would become under threat.

Rescue 1122 remained alert throughout the day and deployed 14 ambulances and 9 fire-fighters which patrolled in the city.

the rainwater inundated almost all parts of the city hampering smooth flow of vehicular traffic after choked drains burst and gushed water into houses.

Residents living in close vicinity of Leh Nullah were seen fleeing their houses for safer places after the sirens installed by Japan International Cooperative Agency (Jica) blew for the first time warning about a possible flood in the 35 kilometre notorious drain meandering through the twin cities.

The Leh Nullah also burst its banks near Gawalmandi and Pirwadhai areas causing panic among the residents forcing them to come out of their houses.

The district administration, rescue workers and civic agencies were on red alert asking the people to avoid coming close to Leh Nullah where flood level had reached dangerous level.

The PML-N parliamentarians blamed the Leh Expressway project for the flood as according to them the excavation work had raised the level of the flood, thus causing deluge in the nullah.

The provincial Secretary Housing and Urban Development Khizar Hayat Gondal also arrived in Rawalpindi and instructed the civic agencies to immediately open the entire choked drains.

DCO Rawalpindi Jamal Mustafa and other top officers of civic agencies visited the affected places and asked the residents of low-lying areas to evacuate their houses as flooding in Leh Nullah was imminent keeping in view more rain forecast by Met Office.

The District Coordination Officer, who visited the rain affected areas, told Dawn that the situation remained under control despite heavy rainfall.

The affected areas included, Millat Colony, Nadeem Colony, Arya Mohala, Waris Khan, Satellite Town, Dhoke Kala Khan, Pirwadhai, Gawalmandi, Ganjmandi and the areas situated on both sides of Leh Nullah.