• Many areas without electricity even after 24 hours, residents say
• Weatherman says next two days are critical for Karachi
• All educational institutions in Karachi remain closed today

KARACHI: Torrential monsoon rains on Wednesday continue to exacerbate the suffering of residents, taking the rain-related death toll to 14 with several parts of the city experiencing widespread power outages that lasted for hours.

The Sindh government has announced that all public and private educational institutional in Karachi will remain closed on Thursday (today).

Civic bodies aided by army, Rangers and police personnel, took several hours to drain rainwater from several major thoroughfares, including I.I. Chundrigar Road, the FTC area, University Road, and PAF Museum stretch of Sharea Faisal.

However, another spell of rain with strong winds began again after 8pm in the city, inundating many roads and low-lying areas.

According to the Met department’s advisory, strong monsoon currents are penetrating most parts of the province and under their influence widespread rain/thunderstorm are expected in Karachi, Hyderabad and other districts of the province on Thursday (today).

“The next two days are still critical for Karachi and rest of the province. A low pressure gathering steam is expected to reach Gujarat, India, tomorrow and impact Karachi and other parts of Sindh,” Met department’s focal person Anjum Niaz Zaigham told Dawn.

On Wednesday, most parts of the city received light to moderate showers.

According to data compiled by Met Office, the maximum rain was recorded in Orangi town 37mm followed by PAF Base Faisal 32mm, Jinnah Terminal 18mm, Keamari 13mm, Airport old area 11mm, DHA Phase VII 8mm, Met Office University Road 7.6mm and Korangi 6.8mm.

As Karachi struggles with the rain disaster, eight more people died in rain-related incidents in the city. Hospital, rescue and police officials had reported six deaths on Tuesday — five in house collapse incidents and one due to electrocution.

On Wednesday, officials said that three youths died from electrocution in Shah Faisal Colony and Gizri, while five people, including three children, drowned.

A spokesperson for the Edhi Foundation said that two unidentified children drowned — one in Lyari Nadi and another near Al-Asif Square in Sohrab Goth. They could not be located until late at night.

Separately, a minor boy drowned while swimming in a rainwater-filled ditch off the Northern Bypass, said Gulshan-i-Maymar SHO Abdul Ghaffar Korai.

In another incident, Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn that the body of an unidentified man, estimated to be in his early 60s, was brought to the hospital. The man had drowned.

Jamshed Quarters SHO Anser Ahmed Butt said that a couple and their child fell into a drain overflowing with rainwater near Guru Mandir. The woman and child were rescued but the man, identified as Abbas, drowned.

The Gizri police said a teenager named Yasir was riding a motorcycle when he came into contact with a live wire near the Saudi Consulate in DHA and died from electrocution.

In Shah Faisal Colony, two young brothers were electrocuted, area SHO Imtiaz Husain Shah told Dawn.

He said one of the brothers received an electric shock from an underground wire. The other brother attempted to rescue him but was also electrocuted. They were identified as Murad Sultan, 21, and Siraj Sultan, 12.

Residents continue to endure prolonged outages

Although a provincial holiday kept most people indoors, it brought little relief as they endured hours-long power outages, adding to their misery.

Parts of several localities including Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Nazimabad, Malir, Korangi, Defence Housing Authority, Clifton and PECHS remained without electricity for long hours.

A resident of Gulzar-i-Hijri, Umer Shahid, told Dawn that there had been no power since the first drop of the rain on Tuesday. “We have lodged several complaints to the power utility but to vain,” he lamented.

Another resident of the locality said that the power supply was disconnected his area at 2pm on Tuesday and was restored on 6pm on Wednesday.

Maaz Mohiduddin, a resident of Block-16 Gulistan-i-Jauhar, said that the power was disrupted shortly after the rain hit the city on Tuesday and it was not restored till 10pm on Wednesday.

Azka Rabbani, a resident of PECHS, said that parts of her locality suffered 16 hour power outage.

However, K Electric Chief Executive Officer Syed Moonis Abdullah Alvi said in a statement that power had been restored to more than 94 per cent of the city’s areas by 6 pm. “There are about 150 affected feeders in the city, but the work of restoring power is ongoing,” he added.

Mr Alvi said that the KE field staff were facing severe difficulties in transportation and KE vehicles were facing difficulties in reaching the faulted areas.

Insiders in the power utility said that there had been several localised fault in parts of the city and the repair of underground cables was possible after the accumulated water drained out.

Meanwhile, Energy Minister Nasir Hussain Shah contacted the KE administration and expressed serious concern over the prolonged power outages in the city. He emphasised that immediate restoration of electricity must be ensured as the prolonged outages had disrupted water supply in households, causing severe inconvenience to citizens.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2025