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PESHAWAR, Feb 9: Heavy rain lashed the provincial metropolis and other parts of the NWFP on Monday morning. The rainfall was accompanied by chilly winds. According to MET office, 45 mm rainfall was recorded till Monday evening which brought temperature down to 8 degrees centigrade, and 93 per cent humidity in air was recorded.
The cloudy weather with cold and drizzling started last evening. Eventually rain started pouring down heavily on Monday morning increasing the cold and chill in the provincial metropolis. The streets and some dilapidated roads of the Peshawar city were submerged in rainwater causing inconvenience to the pedestrians.
Heavy rains also hit the Northern areas and the upper parts of Punjab. Other parts of NWFP also received rainfall and Parachinar, Landikotal, Chitral and Kalaam also received snowfall. The Pakistan International Airline (PIA) had to cancel its flights for Chitral due to bad weather.
"These recent rains are beneficial for the grain and gram crops grown in southern parts of NWFP including Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Karak districts. The rain is just sufficient for the crops in this sandy region," DG Agriculture research NWFP, Abdul Wadood Khattak told Dawn.
Mr Khattak said that even in plane areas like Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda, Peshawar districts these rains would provide enough water for the wheat, maze, sugarbeat and other crops.
"Proper light and 25mm to 30 mm water is sufficient for the growth and rearing of the crops but if the rains continue and the amount of water exceeds this limit, then, over-watering could damage the crop.
Now there is no need for more water for crops after these rains," he said. The MET office predicted that the rain would continue till Tuesday afternoon and it could be the last rain of the winter season.
FOUR KILLED: Four people, including two minor children, were killed by roof collapses as heavy rains and snowfall continued to lash the area during the past 24 hours, our correspondent from Khaar (Bajaur Agency) adds.
A woman and her two children were killed when the roof of a room of a house caved in at Kamma Darra village in far away Barang subdivision on Sunday night. The woman was identified as Sakeena Bibi, wife of Asfandyar.
The bodies were recovered from the rubble after several hours of efforts by the local people. In a second incident in the Nawi Killi area, Nawab Khan, was killed when the roof of a room where he was sleeping caved in due to the rains.
The rains and snowfall which started on the night between Sunday and Monday, continued non-stop and crippled routine life, besides plummeting the mercury level to freezing point. The people remained indoors and business centres and bazaars were deserted throughout the day. The electricity supply also remained suspended during the past 24 hours.
All roads in the far-flung areas and routes leading to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, including the Nawa and Ghakhi Passes, were closed. The mountain areas of the agency had so far received almost three feet of snow.
Earlier, the local political administration initiated an operation with bulldozers to clear the snow and open the roads leading to the border areas, but the operation was suspended as the snowfall continued after a short break in the weather.
