RAWALPINDI: Heavy rain lashed the city on Thursday, raising water level in Leh Nullah to 8ft. Residents of low-lying areas spent the day, restlessly trying to drain out water from their houses.

The temperature dropped to 27°C after the rain but the sun overpowered the clouds later. The district administration, civil defence department and Rescue 1122 remained on high alert to deal with an emergency situation.

The Meteorological department recorded 42 millimetres of rain water in Zero Point, 40mm in Golra, 37mm in Saidpur, 15mm in Bokra, 22mm near the airport, 36mm in Chaklala and 25mm in Shamsabad. More rain is expected in Rawalpindi district during the next 24 hours. Weak monsoon currents along with a westerly wave is present in upper parts of the country.

“Hot and humid weather is expected in most parts of the country. However, rain/wind thundershowers are expected in Islamabad, upper/central Punjab, upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, south eastern Sindh and Kashmir,” according to a Met official. More monsoon currents are expected in Sindh from Friday evening till Sunday.

The faulty sewerage system in Rawalpindi caused inconvenience to residents of the city. Rainwater seeped into houses and the entire city smelled of sewage overflowing from drains after rain. It also entered the basement of Holy Family Hospital, causing hardship for patients; the hospital’s basement houses the burns unit and physiotherapy ward.

“The Leh Nullah rose to 8ft but the administration did not receive calls from residents of low-lying areas to pump out water from their locality,” Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) spokesman Umer Farooq told Dawn.

The Met office forecast a heavy rain shower in the night and Wasa officials were awake all night to handle an emergency situation, he added.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2020