RAWALPINDI: It rained heavily in the twin cities Wednesday morning, inundating low-lying areas while also bringing a respite from the heat.

The day started off rainy and pleasant, but the sun broke through the clouds in the afternoon and raised temperatures. According to the meteorological department, the temperature was above 36°C but the rain brought it down to 29°C and 30°C in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

The department recorded 155 millimetres of rain in Saidpur, 81mm at Zero Point, 64mm in Golra, 57mm in Bokra, 53mm at the Islamabad International Airport, 76mm in Shamsabad and 68mm in Chaklala. More rain and cool winds from the north have been forecast for the next 24 hours.

Rain and wind-thunderstorms with isolated heavy rainfall are expected in upper Punjab - in the Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sargodha and Faisalabad, as well as in the Hazara division, Islamabad and Kashmir. Isolated places in the Zhob, Kalat, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, D.G. Khan, Multan, Bahawalpur, Sahiwal, D.I. Khan, Bannu, Peshawar, Kohat and Malakand divisions and Gilgit-Baltistan will also be affected.

The rainfall began at 2am and continued for seven hours, from drizzle to heavy rain. The rainfall exposed the inadequacy of the city’s drainage system, as the sewerage system in downtown Rawalpindi and in the area near Leh Nullah was choked and water accumulated in the streets in low-lying areas.

The Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) outpatient department (OPD) was flooded because of the hospital’s choked sewerage system. Doctors were two hours late to the OPD for patient examinations, which are supposed to start at 8am.

“We faced problems checking patients at the hospital as the corridors and rooms were filled with gutter water,” Young Doctors Association BBH President Dr Rana Azeem told Dawn.

He said patients also faced difficulty getting to the OPD building because of the knee-deep water on the main road, adding that the hospital’s sanitation needed to be improved as the foul smell made it difficult for patients and doctors to sit in the rooms.

BBH Medical Superintendent Dr Mohammad Rafique could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts.

Sewage also entered the basement of the new Holy Family Hospital building, causing problems for the pathological laboratory.

A senior officer at the hospital said it was “routine” for water to enter the basement when it rains.

Residents of low-lying areas criticised the government, saying the administration had failed to resolve their problems while claiming that obstructions to the flow of water had been removed in drains and nullahs.

All the drains in the cantonment areas were choked, and water entered houses along nullahs on Peshawar Road, Kalma Chowk, Misrial Road and Burf Khana Chowk, and in Dhoke Syedan and Tench Bhatta.

Nasir Hussain, a Mukha Singh Estate resident, said the heavy rainfall inundated many areas along large drains.

“We asked the local MPA and MNA for the nullahs to be cleaned but the rain exposed their work,” he said.

Kalma Chowk resident Mohammad Iqbal said the Chaklala Cantonment Board had done nothing to clean nullahs and drains, adding that the sanitation situation had gone from bad to worse in the cantonment.

When contacted, Water and Sanitation Agency Managing Director Mohammad Tanveer said that although rainfall in Islamabad was recorded at 155mm and 78mm in Rawalpindi, Leh Nullah did not rise above 14.5 feet.

Sirens are to be sounded when the nullah rises past the 18ft mark.

He said rainwater did not accumulate in low-lying areas in the city along Leh Nullah, and rainwater receded in two hours while Leh Nullah went back to flowing normally.

CCB Vice President Raja Irfan Imtiaz said that that the areas that fall under the board were inundated, particular in Kalma Chowk, because of construction work.

“We began construction of a drain in the area and water accumulated due to this,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2019