RAWALPINDI: Heavy rain accompanied by gusty winds lashed the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad bringing a chill to the air.

Black clouds blanketed the cities all the day. It was a bad day for motorists in the garrison city as they had to steer through puddles on roads and face traffic jams.

The Met Office said a strong westerly wave was affecting western and upper parts of the country and likely to persist in upper parts during the next two days. It warned that isolated/moderate to heavy rainfall may generate flash floods in nullahs/streams of Dir, Swat, Chitral, Mansehra, Kohistan and Kashmir from till April 29.

Landslides in upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Murree, Galliyat, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan may affect vulnerable locations during the period. Windstorm/hailstorm and lightning may affect human lives, standing crops, loose structures like electric poles, vehicles and solar panels, it added.

It said rain-windstorm/thunderstorm (with isolated hailstorm) was expected in KP, upper/central Punjab, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. Heavy falls are also likely at a few places in upper KP and Kashmir.

On Saturday, the Met Office recorded 10mm rain in Zero Point and Saidpur, 8mm at Bokra, 7mm at Golra and 3mm at the airport in Islamabad, and 5mm rain at Chaklala and Shamsabad and 4mm at Kutchery in Rawalpindi. The rain and wind brought down temperatures from 26 to 23 degrees Celsius.

The rain also worried farmers in the outskirts of the capital city and garrison city as hailstorm damaged the wheat crop.

The Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) has already imposed a rain emergency in the garrison city and deployed its teams in low-lying areas.

Water accumulated in low-lying areas of the garrison city, however, the water level in Leh Nullah remained at 5 feet at Gawalmandi and 4.5 feet at Katarian Bridge. According to Wasa Managing Director Saleem Ashraf, teams had been deployed with water-sucking machines in low-lying areas. He said the teams cleared the roads and low-lying areas within a few hours after the rain, adding the water flow in Leh Nullah remained normal.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2024