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LAHORE, July 12: Heavy rain lashed parts of Punjab, the NWFP and Balochistan on Saturday.
Lahore was one of the worst affected cities where people demolished the wall of a general hospital to divert water. Flooding at the Lahore General Hospital also forced its authorities to shift patients and machinery to safe places.
The rain lashed the city for more than five hours in the morning, affecting traffic and keeping people away from their offices while business activity remained low till late in the afternoon.
Airport and railways’ authorities reported some delays in operations.
Lakshmi Chowk, Misri Shah, Wasanpura, Chauburji, Old Anarkali, Samanabad, Gulberg and New Garden Town localities were the worst affected. The area around The Mall, too, was inundated.
The roads between the Punjab University and the Sheikh Zayed Hospital and between the Kalma Chowk and Barkat Market were flooded by the evening.
The Met office recorded 86mm of rain at its Jail Road office and 70mm at the airport.
It reported 32mm of rain in Dir, 36mm in Sahiwal, 12mm in Sialkot, 11mm in Dera Ismail Khan and six millimetres in Islamabad between 8am and 5pm on Saturday. Heavy rains were also reported from Ziarat, Loralai and Quetta in Balochistan.
Chief Meteorologist Hazrat Mir ruled out the possibility of flooding of rivers, but said that some urban areas might be flooded by rains expected in the next 24 hours.
RAVI IN FLOOD: The flood forecasting division said the Ravi River was in low flood at Balloki, and the Kabul River in medium flood at Nowshera.
The Met office reported heavy rainfall in many cities in the country between Thursday night and Friday.
Islamabad received 107mm of rain, Kamra 85mm, Phulra 79mm, Risalpur 53mm, Shinkiari 46mm, Nowshera 45mm, Gujranwala 42mm, Sialkot 39mm, Chakdara 35mm, Dir 34mm, Rawalakot 29mm, Marala 27mm, Peshawar 26mm, Noorpur Thal and Tarbela 25mm each, Attock 24mm, Kotli 21mm, Mangla 20mm, Zhob and Mianwali 19mm each, Balakot 14mm. It expected widespread thunderstorm/rain with moderate to heavy falls at isolated places over Kashmir, the NWFP and northern Punjab during the next 24 hours. Scattered thunderstorm/rain was also expected over South Punjab, Eastern Balochistan and Sindh.
