PESHAWAR: Rain lashed parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa early on Saturday killing two boys in Khyber tribal district.

Large parts of the provincial capital reported suspension of electric supply for long hours due to heavy rain.

Officials of the Khyber district administration said a boy lost life after being swept away by flash flood in Durma Korona area of Loe Shalman valley, while a teenage boy was found dead in a rainwater channel of Ali Masjid area.

They also said the downpour also damaged a dozen houses and destroyed the boundary wall of a primary school.

The officials said over a dozen houses were damaged in parts of Landi Kotal tehsil, while the boundary wall of a primary school collapsed in Zeen Tarrha area.

Houses damaged in Khyber, power supply suspended in Peshawar

They said they shared details of the damage to public life and property with the Provincial Disaster Management Authority and were collecting information from other areas.

It also rained heavily in the provincial capital inundating several arteries. However, no one was injured or killed by the heavy rain, according to Rescue 1122.

The rain disrupted power supply to the city for many hours.

A spokesman for the Peshawar Electric Supply Company told Dawn that the downpour caused around 150 of the utility’s power feeder to trip.

He said most feeders tripped in Peshawar and Khyber circles and 110 of them developed technical faults.

The spokesman, however, said Pesco workers were busy addressing the issue.

“We have restored power supply to most areas and are working to fix the problem on the remaining 30-40 feeders,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hassan Ali, a spokesman for the Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar, said the provincial capital didn’t report major inundation as the public utility had de-silted major drains of the provincial capital, including Shahi Katha and Muhammadzai drains, before the start of the monsoon season.

He said the WSSP’s sanitation workers remained on duty during the rain to drain rainwater from the University Road, Dalazak Road, Kohat Road, Rahatabad Road, and low-lying areas.

Abbottabad district also reported heavy rainfall but public life and property wasn’t damaged.

The rainwater caused traffic mess in Supply and Jab Pul areas, near Ayub Medical College and Sarban Chowk, and on the Kakul Road for some time.

The meteorological department recorded 52mm rainfall in Peshawar city, 33 in Landi Kotal, 20 in Kakul, 14 each in Kohat and Risalpur, 10 in Bajaur, eight in Dir, two in Balakot and one millimeter in Buner.

It forecastpartly cloudy weather for most parts of the province on Sunday.

The department said scattered thunderstorm and rain associated with gusty winds was likely to occur in Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra, Battagram, Kohistan, Torghar, Shangla, Chitral, Upper and Lower Dir, Swat, Bajaur, Mohmand, Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda, Nowshera, Peshawar, Khyber, Orakzai and Kurram districts.

It also forecast partly cloudy for most parts of the province with scattered thunderstorm and rain along with gusty winds in Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra, Battagram, Kohistan, Torghar, Shangla, Chitral, Upper and Lower Dir, Swat, Bajaur, Mohmand, Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda, Nowshera, Peshawar, Khyber, Orakzai and Kurram districts.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2023