Country in grip of dry spell
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ISLAMABAD: The country including Rawalpindi, Islamabad and the surrounding region is in the grip of dry spell.
The total rainfall in Rawalpindi and Islamabad during October had been less than 1mm whereas the average normal rainfall in this month is 31.7mm.
The Met Office had predicted 10pc rain across the country in October with two or three spells of light to moderate rains.
However, the weather pattern remained unpredictable and there was no sign of any downpour in the remaining days of the month in the region.
Normally, the twin cities received up to four days of rainfall but this year there was only one day of precipitation in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
The situation was no different in Murree either where the total rainfall up to Oct 26 had been more than 80pc below normal rain, with only 13mm rainfall against the normal pattern of 63.1mm.
The hill station received only one day of rainfall during the month compared to the traditional rainfall pattern of four-and-a-half days.
The rainfall had been below normal in the previous month too, leading to water shortage in many parts of the country.
The Met Office has already issued a warning of a drought-like condition.
Some cities including Bahawalnagar, Mianwali, Sargodha, Dir, Ghari Dupatta, Chitral, Kohat, Karachi and Sibbi received higher than normal precipitation this month.
Meanwhile, in an effort to mitigate the impact of climate change, the National Highways Authority (NHA) has responded to the efforts of the government to plant trees.
A forestation programme has been finalised to plant trees along more than 1,200 kilometres of motorways and highways network under the jurisdiction of NHA.
The programme was inaugurated by Minister of State for Communications Murad Saeed on Friday.
Plantation along the highways and motorways would help reduce issues being faced by country due to climatic change.
Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2018
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