Two killed as rain plays havoc with Karachi infrastructure, electricity

Published June 29, 2016
Saddar is wrapped in darkness after the rain in the city was followed by power outages on Tuesday night.—Fahim Siddiqi/White Star
Saddar is wrapped in darkness after the rain in the city was followed by power outages on Tuesday night.—Fahim Siddiqi/White Star

KARACHI: Two people, including a small girl, were killed as the city received its first showers on Tuesday evening that turned the weather pleasant but wreaked havoc on the city’s ill-maintained electricity and sewerage systems and causing hours-long traffic jams on major arteries.

A 12-year-old boy was electrocuted while playing in his street in North Karachi, while a three-year-old girl died in a wall-collapse incident in Orangi Town.

Although the maximum rainfall the city received was not even two inches, around 200 power feeders of the K-Electric tripped and major thoroughfares were submerged in rainwater.

Almost every area in the city, whether a posh neighbourhood or a slum, experienced a power breakdown during or after the rain. In some localities, electricity could not be restored till late in the night, as the KE was trying to bring back on line 130 of the 200 tripped feeders.

Tuesday was a hot day for Karachi, as the mercury shot up to 38 degrees Celsius. However, a spell of “light to moderate” rain in the evening brought the temperature down to 25 degree Celsius, with humidity, or the amount of moisture in the air, at around 90 per cent, after the rain.

A meteorological department official said that although some areas of the metropolis received just traces of rain in the afternoon, at around 7pm almost the entire city received rain that lasted from 30 minutes to one hour at different places.

He explained that a rain system that entered the southern parts of the country from the north had caused light to moderate rain on Tuesday. He said that more rain — light to moderate — was expected on Wednesday (today).

The met office recorded maximum amount of rainfall — 32.4 millimetre, or 1,27 inches — in Nazimabad, followed by the Airport and its surrounding areas (31mm, or 1.22 inches). The met office’s observatories at PAF Faisal and Masroor bases and in Landhi recorded 12mm (0.47 inch) of rainfaill.

According to the met office, that the weather in the city on Wednesday is expected to remain partly cloudy with chances of thundershowers with gusty winds. The maximum temperature is expected to remain between 37 and 39 degrees Celsius.

He said that other cities of Sindh also received rain and the amount of rainfall recorded in Rohri was 26mm; Sukkur 11.6 mm and Larkana 10.2mm.

In North Karachi, Muhammad Ahmed, 12, died of electrocution. He was playing with other kids in his street during rain when he came in contact with an electricity pole.

Three-year-old Shama, daughter of Muhammad Khan, was killed when a wall of an under-construction house fell on her in Orangi Town No 4. The girl was playing in the street during rain with other children.

Power outages

Some 200 of the K-Electric’s over 1,400 feeders tripped due to the rain on Tuesday of which 70 were brought back on line while KE teams were busy restoring the rest as this paper went to press.

According to a KE spokesman, 30 feeders were brought back on line almost immediately and later by 10.30pm they were able to restore another 40. “Power was also deliberately switched off as a precautionary measure in some areas where there is a high risk of electrocution,” he explained.

Shah Faisal Colony, Malir, parts of PECHS, Gulshan, Federal B. Area, Baloch Colony and Model Colony remained the most effected areas.

He said consumers were advised to keep away from electric poles and wires and to avoid touching door bells and electric water pumps during the rain. “Please call 118 in case of any emergency,” he said.

Traffic jams as rainwater accumulate on roads

The traffic system in the city collapsed due to the rain and caused hours-long traffic jams on key roads.

The traffic started slowing down in the evening when parts of the city received showers and took hours to get eased amid non-functioning of several traffic signals, absence of traffic officials from several intersections and blockade of some major roads due to accumulated water.

In district south, hundreds of vehicles were seen stuck in a traffic mess on I. I. Chundrigarh Road, M. R Kyani Road, Sarwar Shaheed Road, Abdullah Haroon Road, Napier Road, Hasrat Mohani Road, Burnes Road, Shahra-e-Liaquat, Saddar and Sharea Faisal as well.

A link on Sharea Faisal near Hotel Metrople to PIDC intersection faced the same situation and traffic in couple of phases of the Defence Housing Authority were also remained disturbed for hours.

Officials said the rain badly affected two key links of East district – Korangi Causeway and Korangi Road – which linked Korangi with the rest of the city, as people opted for alternate routes which further swelled number of vehicles on available routes.

In East district, University Road remained the worst affected area where hundreds of vehicles were seen lined up after sunset due to accumulated rainwater.

Similarly, in Central district construction works on key traffic intersection made the situation worst for vehicular traffic.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2016

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