RAWALPINDI: The Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) is on high alert to cope with flooding in the garrison city following warnings of heavy rainfall and urban flooding from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

A weather alert has also been issued by the meteorological department, which says that the weather is likely to be unstable from Friday to Tuesday, with rain and dust-thunderstorms in scattered areas in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir as well as a few places in Sindh and northeast Balochistan.

Dust-thunderstorms with rain are expected in scattered places and with intervals in KP, Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Chakwal, Attock, Mianwali, Sargodha, Bhakkar, Layyah, Khushab, Mandi Bahauddin, Hafizabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot, Narowal, Sheikhupura, Lahore, Kasur, Faisalabad, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Sahiwal and Okara in Punjab and Islamabad, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan from Thursday night to Monday or Tuesday.

Dust-thunderstorms with rain are also expected in Quetta, Zhob, Harnai, Barkhan, Dera Bugti, D.G. Khan, Rajanpur, Multan, Khanewal, Rahimyar Khan, Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Sukkur, Larkana, Jacobabad and Shaheed Benazirabad on Friday and Saturday, and in Mirpurkhas, Badin and Hyderabad on Monday.

After the weather alerts from the

NDMA and the meteorological department, Wasa has made a comprehensive plan to proceed in the event of urban flooding.

Wasa Managing Director Raja Shaukat Mehmood visited various parts of Rawalpindi on Thursday to inspect Wasa’s operational preparations before the monsoon, especially for the next three days of rain.

He told Dawn that the Pakistan Meteorological Department has issued a heavy rainfall warning for the next three days and Wasa has made a comprehensive plan to cope with the anticipated flooding situation under which the leaves of all operational and field staff have been cancelled.

He said flood response units have been made functional at Moti Mahal, Liaquat Bagh, Bagh Sardaran and Khayaban-i-Sir Syed. The necessary heavy machinery is in working condition and deployed at these units.

He said that after the rainfall, Wasa will begin dredging Leh Nullah and cleaning sewers in the city areas. He expressed the hope that the agency will complete its arrangements for the monsoon.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2020