Urban flooding in various areas as heavy rain lashes Karachi

Published July 15, 2021
A view of the rain in Karachi on Thursday evening. — Photo by author
A view of the rain in Karachi on Thursday evening. — Photo by author

Heavy monsoon rain with lightning hit Karachi on Thursday night, making the city's hot and humid weather pleasant while inundating roads and low-lying areas.

Sharea Faisal, the main thoroughfare that links the city with the airport and National Highway, was blocked with commuters stuck in their vehicles, according to witnesses.

Most roads in the Saddar area and both tracks of the New M.A. Jinnah Road were inundated with rainwater.

As usual, the electricity went off in several areas with the first drop of rain, according to reports reaching from several localities.

The K-Electric in a tweet said "medium to heavy rain is being reported in Karachi. KE teams are on ground and monitoring [the] situation."

It said some feeders "may be put off due to safety reasons".

According to a live feeder update tweeted by the power utility, 410 out of 1,950 feeders were affected at 11pm.

Karachi traffic police in a statement advised motorists to take all precautionary steps for safe driving during the heavy downpour and contact their helpline 1915 (021-99216356-58) for seeking assistance in case of any emergency.

It said traffic was moving slowly at Awami Markaz, Karsaz, Nursery, Baloch Colony, and from Mahmoodabad to the airport due to rainwater.

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, the most amount of rain was recorded in Gulshan-i-Hadeed with 42 millimetres, followed by 34.6mm in Nazimabad, 34mm at PAF Base Faisal, 33mm at PAF Base Masroor, 27mm in Surjani, 24.4mm in Airport Old Area, 16mm in Landhi, 15.8mm at Jinnah Terminal and 11.2mm in Saadi Town.

Meanwhile, an Edhi foundation spokesperson said no human loss or injury was reported from any area of the metropolis till late night.

On Monday, the first spell of light monsoon rain had wreaked havoc on Karachi's civic and power supply system, with people enduring traffic jams because of flooded roads and electricity outages for hours. A 12-year-old boy had died after being electrocuted.


With additional reporting by Qazi Hassan.

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