A girl was killed when a house collapsed in Ichhra.The city had received the first heavy monsoon rain only a week ago which also flooded most areas and roads for several hours due to inadequate equipment and drainage system that miserably failed to cope with the crisis-like situation following the showers.
The provincial capital’s drainage system is stated to have a capacity of handling only 10,000 cusecs of water.
The heavy spell of rain began at about 12:15pm and last for an hour or more, followed by sprinkle for as much time.
The rain paralyzed life in the city for several hours. The already unruly traffic on the city roads became even more messy after the showers. Traffic jams and blockades on almost all major roads of the city were witnessed.
Many people were seen pushing their vehicles at different places through knee-deep rainwater as the engines of cars and motorcycles ceased functioning. The roadside mechanics worked overtime repairing motorbikes and cars.
A number of motorcycles skidded resulting in minor injuries to the riders. The commuters, particularly women and children, faced a great deal of inconvenience due to unavailability of sufficient public transport.
The downpour severely affected the small, roadside businesses, notably the makeshift food stalls and rehris, as their owners got little or no chance to protect their merchandise. It proved to be disastrous for majority of them as they had to shut their shops.
The sale of fruit, specially mangoes and jaman, went up and hawkers and shopkeepers made a killing.
Thursday’s spell of heavy rain had its upside, too. It offered people the much-needed respite from extremely humid weather for a few hours who came out on roads in the evening and swarmed public parks and markets with their children.
The children went out to enjoy the downpour on roads and streets and their rooftops, lawns and terraces, oblivious of the chaos caused by it in the city. Youth were seen playing cricket on some roads.
The local meteorological office had recorded some 60mm of rain in the city, 14mm at airport, 24 in Shahdara and 14mm around Jallo Park. The rain, however, did not bring down the temperature. The met office had recorded a maximum temperature of 34.8 degrees Celsius and minimum 29.5 degrees. This compared to Wednesday’s maximum of 34 degrees and minimum of 28.5 degrees. Humidity recorded (in the city) was 76 per cent at 8am and 89 per cent at 5pm.