RAWALPINDI: Rain that lashed the twin cities on Friday morning swamped several areas and raised water levels in Rawal Dam and Leh Nullah.
However, the Met Office predicted heavy rain in the twin cities over the next 24 hours, warned of urban flooding and asked the administrations of Rawalpindi and Islamabad to make arrangements in advance.
On Friday, the spillways of Rawal Dam were opened as rainwater filled Rawal Lake. The rain started early in the morning and continued for two hours, ranging from light to moderate. However, no rain was reported in the area from Kutchery Chowk to Rawat T Chowk.
The recent rains filled the water reservoirs of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, and the spillways of Rawal Dam were opened on Friday morning after the water level touched 1,752 feet.
It was the sixth time during the current monsoon season that the spillways of the dam had been opened. Before opening the spillways, sirens were sounded for 30 minutes.
Punjab Irrigation Sub-Divisional Officer Ijaz Ahmed told Dawn that the spillways had been opened for the sixth time this year after the dam filled up. He said sirens were sounded before opening the spillways so that people residing along Korang Nullah would refrain from fishing and bathing downstream because of the release of a large amount of water from the lake, which could be dangerous.
According to the Met Office, 28 millimetres of rain were recorded at Saidpur, 21mm at Golra, 10mm at Zero Point, 1mm at Bokra in Islamabad, and 10mm at Shamsabad, 7mm at Chaklala, 5mm at Gawalmandi, 4mm at New Kattarian and 1mm at Pirwadhai in Rawalpindi.
The Met official said rain-wind/thundershowers were expected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, upper Punjab, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. Heavy rainfall was also likely at isolated places during the morning hours. Hot and humid weather was likely in the southern parts of the country.
For Saturday, the Met Office said heavy to very heavy rainfall might cause urban flooding in low-lying areas of Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Mardan, Swabi, Peshawar, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Lahore and Sialkot.
Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2026
