RAWALPINDI: Heavy rain in the garrison city turned the weather pleasant, but created a slushy mess in the low-lying areas.

The rain started on Friday night and continued till Saturday morning with small breaks.

The Met Office recorded 59 millimeters of rain at Bokra, 54mm at Zero Point, 37mm at Saidpur and 19mm at Golra in Islamabad; 72mm at Chaklala and 50mm at Shamsabad in Rawalpindi. It predicted scattered thundershowers during the next 24 hours in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

An official of Met Office said moderate monsoon currents from Bay of Bengal were penetrating into upper/central parts of the country. A westerly wave is also present over upper and western parts of the country. He said rain-wind/thundershower was expected in Islamabad, Potohar region, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, southeast Sindh, northeast Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir.

The rain created slushy mess in different areas with rainwater accumulating in the low-lying areas of the city. People residing adjacent to Leh Nullah spent the day draining out water from their houses.

Rainwater accumulated at Jamia Masjid Road, Sadiqabad, Rawal Road and Committee Chowk underpass. The elevated road of the metro bus service was also inundated with the Metro Bus Authority unable to drain it out.

Umer Farooq, a spokesman for Wasa, told Dawn that the water level in Leh Nullah did not touch the dangerous level. He said Wsasa Deputy Managing Director Saleem Ashraf supervised an operation to clear roads from rainwater.

He said a rain emergency had been imposed in the garrison city which would remain in force till September 20, as the Met Office had predicted heavy rains. He said heavy machinery had been deployed in the low-lying areas with a flood response team on a standby to perform duty in three shifts.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2023