KARACHI Residents in different parts of the city had some respite from the hot weather as the city experienced scattered light rain showers on Thursday.
Temperatures remained relatively high, however, with a maximum of 36.5 degrees Celsius and minimum of 30 degrees Celsius being recorded, according to Chief Meteorologist at the National Seismic Monitoring Centre Muhammad Riaz. He said about 2mm of rain had been recorded by Thursday evening.
More rain is expected on Friday, with the Met department forecasting a drop in temperatures as well, though the maximum is still expected to be around 35 degrees Celsius.
The rain is part of a low-pressure system that has entered the country from the northeast Arabian Sea, in the Saurashtra Kutch area.
The Met department says that the monsoon rains are expected to begin in the first week of July, and that the monsoon will be 'normal', based on the data so far collected.
KESC network sustains 'jerk'
Many of the KESC feeders in the city tripped with the start of rain on Thursday, causing suspension of power supply to many areas. There were complaints of electricity not being restored in some parts of the city till the filing of this report, though the utility claimed that it re-energised all the feeders within an hour of the breakdown. The KESC management continued to maintain that it had made all arrangements to meet any rain-related emergency.
A spokesman for the KESC said that 39 feeders had tripped at around 8pm and 37 of them were revived within an hour.
He said that only West Wharf and Orangi feeders were to be re-energised. He was of the view that light rain was a phenomenon worse than a proper downpour due to the effects of dirt and dust clogged on electric supply systems.
Meanwhile, the KESC distribution chief, Jan Abbas Zaidi, informed newsmen at a briefing that the Kanupp power plant would hopefully resume generation sometime during Thursday night or early Friday morning.
He said the power demand in the city at 2pm on Thursday was 2,242 megawatts while the KESC had been supplying 2,232 megawatts. Since Wednesday noon, a total of 33 cable faults occurred and 23 of them were fixed. The areas hit by these faults included Sindhi Muslim Housing Society, Banaras sub-station, Clifton, Malir, Khudadad Colony and Muslimabad.
Mr Zaidi said the KESC had an in-built system of facing the difficulties during monsoon which had since been upgraded by adding more staff and logistics, and by drastically reducing the response time to complaints. Also, better contact had been established with the local governments, particularly with the nazims of all towns, he added.
