KARACHI: Heavy showers continue to lash different parts of Karachi as the city faces increasing risk of urban flooding with rainwater inundating roads and entering homes in various areas on Tuesday.
Sharea Faisal, II Chundrigar Road, Shah Faisal Colony, Model Colony, airport, and nearby residential areas received downpour today
Showers were also recorded in Malir Halt, Rafah-e-Aam, and the surrounding areas. There were also reports of rainfall in Surjani Town and Korangi.
The change in weather came as a breath of fresh air for residents after a spell of hot and humid conditions over the last two days.
“With just a little amount of rain, the road outside my house has been inundated and I can’t commute to my office,” said a resident of Gulistan-e-Jauhar area as various roads across the city became inundated after morning downpour.
The latest showers come in the backdrop of Pakistan Meteorological Department’s (PMD) forecast of isolated showers in Karachi till August 23.
With strong monsoon entering Sindh, PMD noted, rain thunderstorm/rain with few moderate to isolated heavy falls is expected in Karachi, Hyderabad, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Larkana, Qambar Shahdadkot, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Badin, Thatta, Tharparkar, and surrounding areas.
As per the Met Office’s statistics, the highest rainfall was recorded in Keamari (29 millimetres) followed by Nazimabad (28mm) and 20mm of rain recorded at PAF Masroor Base.
Gulshan-e-Hadeed recorded 15mm of rain, Orangi Town 12.2mm, airport and Old City area 10.8mm, Sharea Faisal 8mm, Saadi Town 5.1mm, University Road 5mm, Super Highway 4.8mm and Gulshan-e-Maymar 2.4mm.
With rainwater entering homes in Gulshan-e-Hadeed Phase I and Quaidabad, weather expert Jawad Memon has said that rain clouds were still forming over the city.
“Rain may continue for another hour or more,” Memon said, adding that clouds were approaching the city from the direction of Super Highway.
“A monsoon system is present in the Arabian Sea. Due to humidity, the system has turned into a low-pressure area,” Memon remarked while predicting more moderate showers.
Rainwater enters Karachi homes. — Geo News
Rainwater enters Karachi homes. — Geo News
Also, the next two days, the Met Office has warned, are very important with regards to rains in the city as well as the province.
“Moderate to heavy rainfall may cause urban flooding in Karachi,” it said, adding that a monsoon system was present in the form of a depression near Western Odisha and will reach Gujarat in India in the next one and a half days.
Following the showers, a part of North Nazimabad Landi Kotal Chowrangi caved in, disrupting the traffic flow.
With the residents lamenting that the administration had not started the repair work, the Assistant Commissioner North Nazimabad has said that higher authorities have been informed about the road subsidence.
The traffic police, the official added, have also been asked to provide an alternative route for traffic.
Furthermore, the downpour also resulted in electricity outages in multiple areas. However, K-Electric (KE) has said that the city was being provided with an uninterrupted power supply from more than 1,770 feeders out of 2,100.
As a precautionary measure, power supply is temporarily suspended in low-lying areas, encroachments and ditches, said the KE spokesperson, adding that the utility supplier’s staff has been fully mobilised and is present in the field.
In light of the Met Office’s prediction, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah chaired an emergency meeting a day earlier to oversee preparations for the monsoon rains expected to impact Karachi and other parts of the province, The News reported on Tuesday.
The CM put the local governments, administration and traffic police on high alert, and directed them to strengthen coordination to ensure convenience for the people in case of heavy rains.
The CM said he wanted to ensure that Karachi’s infrastructure was ready to handle the anticipated downpour. Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab briefed the CM on ongoing efforts to improve drainage systems at 44 critical drain choking points across Karachi, with approximately 150 drains under the control of towns undergoing de-silting to facilitate the smooth flow of rainwater.
The CM directed the local government minister and mayor to take all necessary steps to minimise disruption during the rains and ensure the safety of citizens.
Karachi is not the only part of the country witnessing monsoon showers as heavy rains have wreaked havoc across Pakistan’s northern areas in recent days.
So far, the death tally in rain-related incidents has climbed to 660 with reports of casualties and widespread destruction pouring in from all provinces and regions.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has reported the highest casualties, with 392 people losing their lives in various incidents.
KP is followed by Punjab with 164 fatalities, Gilgit Baltistan (GB) with 32, Sindh with 29, Balochistan with 20, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) with 15, and Islamabad with eight.
Among the victims, 394 were men, 95 women, and 171 children. The total number of injured has reached 935, most of them in Punjab (582), while 245 were reported in KP, 40 in Sindh, 37 in GB, 24 in AJK, four in Balochistan, and three in Islamabad.
