LAHORE: Various parts of the city received rain on Monday, including Davies Road, Shimla Pahari, Abbott Road, Lakshmi Chowk, The Mall, MAO College, Sanda, Islampura, Chauhan Road, Civil Secretariat, and district courts. Additionally, Johar Town, Township, Ring Road, Ferozepur Road, and adjacent areas also experienced rainfall.

However, heavy rains exposed the inadequacies of Lahore’s sewerage infrastructure. After issues on the main boulevard in Johar Town, a similar problem occurred on the main boulevard in Allama Iqbal Town, where a sewage line burst in the middle of the road, resulting in a sinkhole that disrupted traffic flow. This was attributed to the failure of the sewer line crown and marked the fourth instance of such damage on this boulevard.

Meanwhile, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) predicted rain in most districts of Punjab within the next 24 hours. The ongoing spell of monsoon rains is expected to continue until Aug 29.

The flow of water in all the rivers and canals of Punjab is currently at normal levels. The PDMA and local administration are on alert due to flood warnings in hill torrents for the coming days.

Also, the National Disaster Management Authority said heavy rainfall may trigger landslides in hilly areas and cause flooding in low-lying areas of Gujranwala, Lahore, Sahiwal, Rawalpindi, Attock, Murree, Galliyat, Chakwal, Talagang, Jhelum, Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Layyah, Muzaffargarh, Faisalabad, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Chiniot, Multan, Khanewal, Lodhran, Khanpur, Sargodha, Mianwali, Khushab, and Bhakkar.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2024