KARACHI: A young man was killed and power supply was disrupted on Wednesday when the city received another spell of monsoon rain amid forecast of more precipitation for Thursday.

As the Meteorological Department warned that the trend was likely to continue for 24 to 48 hours, the situation in the city largely remained normal unlike the previous rains when the downpour played havoc with the metropolis’ ill-maintained electricity and sewerage systems.

The maximum rainfall, 32 millimetres (1.2 inches), was recorded in North Nazimabad, followed by Saddar and its surrounding areas (28mm, 1.1 inches). The Met office recorded 19.8mm (0.7 inch) rain on University Road, 11.8mm (0.4 inch) in Surjani Town, 8.2mm in areas around Jinnah Terminal, 7.5mm in Landhi, 5mm in areas around the old terminal of Karachi airport, 3mm in PAF Base Masroor and 2.5mm in Keamari.

“The current rain system developed in the Bay of Bengal,” said Shahid Abbas at Karachi’s Met office. “It entered the city in the second half of the day and is likely to stay for another day or two. Due to this low pressure and the current system, we expect multiple spells of moderate to heavy rain late today [Wednesday] and then tomorrow [Thursday]. The trend is expected to weaken early on Friday.”

Private schools announce closure for today

The rainfall intensified late in the night with thunderstorm and strong winds, pushing the private schools to make their decision on their own. Though the Sindh education ministry did not come up with any announcement, the All Sindh Private Schools Association announced that they would keep the educational institutions closed on Thursday.

Haider Ali of the association in a brief statement said that due to predicted rains, his body had decided to keep the schools closed.

One dies in rain-related incident

At least one person was reported dead in a rain-related incident in a Korangi area on Wednesday night, hospital sources said.

The body of 20-year-old Shahid was brought from Mehran Town to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, said Dr Seemin Jamali, executive director of the JPMC. He died in a wall collapse, which fell down apparently under the impact of rain.

Korangi Industrial Area SHO Ubaidullah Khan said that the police were obtaining details of the incident.

Power supply disruption

Power supply was disrupted in parts of the city following the third spell of monsoon shower.

Residents from Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Nazimabad, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Saddar, Federal B Area, North Karachi and Shah Faisal Colony called Dawn office saying that power supply remained interrupted for hours after the rain.

K-Electric, however, said the power supply situation remained stable as the city experienced a fresh wave of rainfall.

A spokesperson for the power utility said that electricity supply was temporarily switched off in a few low-lying areas, including Orangi, Korangi, Gadap, Baldia and Surjani, as well as in areas with a high incidence of kundas in the interest of public safety.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2019