RAWALPINDI: Heavy rain lashed the twin cities on Monday throwing normal life out of gear, with water logging reported in different parts of the city.

Officials from Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) and the local administration remained on high alert to deal with any emergency in case of flooding in Leh Nullah but water level in the nullah remained normal. Rain stopped for some time in the afternoon but both cities saw heavy rain the evening again. Water accumulated in low-lying areas whereas some of it was seen entering Metro bus stations.

Rainwater accumulated on Airport Road, Rawal Road, Committee Chowk Underpass, Liaquat Bagh, Dhoke Khabba, Sadiqabad, Satellite Town, Jamia Masjid Road and Murree Road. Electricity supply remained suspended in some areas of the twin cities during rain while some residents faced the problem of low voltage throughout the day.

The Met Office recorded 45mm rain in Bokra, 13mm at Golra 13, 28mm at Zero Point, 8mm at Saidpur, 10mm at Airport, 67mm at Chaklala, 33mm at Kutchery and 25mm at Shamsabad in Rawalpindi.

According to an official, monsoon currents from Bay of Bengal are penetrating in central and upper parts of the country while strong monsoon currents are likely to penetrate southern parts from Tuesday.

He said that rain-wind/thundershower is expected in Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

According to a warning, heavy rains may generate urban flooding in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan, Faisalabad, Lahore and Gujranwala on Aug 16. It stated that flash flooding is expected in local nullahs of Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Shakargarh, Sialkot, Narowal, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Dir, Karak, Lakki Marwat, Bannu and Kashmir.

Heavy rains may generate urban flooding in Karachi, Thatta, Badin, Hyderabad, Dadu, Jamshoro, Sukkur, Larkana, Shaheed Benazirabad and Mirpurkhas between Aug 16 and 18. Flash flooding is expected in Qilla Saifullah, Loralai, Barkhan, Kohlu, Mosa Khel, Sherani, Sibbi, Bolan, Kalat, Khuzdar, Lasbella, Awaran, Turbat, Panjgur, Pasni, Jiwani, Ormara, Gwadar and hill torrents of Dera Ghazi Khan.

Commissioner Noorul Amin Mengal, Deputy Commissioner Tahir Farooq and other senior officials visited different parts of the city to inspect the situation of water logging and asked relevant civic bodies to drain out water. Wasa Managing Director Mohammad Tanveer said that water accumulated in many parts of the city but teams of the civic agency drained out the water within an hour after rain stopped. He said that water level in Leh Nullah did not rise but the situation was being monitored, adding that big nullahs and drains created problems during rain due to encroachments.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2022