Heavy rain causes urban flooding in Lahore

LAHORE: Moderate to heavy but scattered rain caused urban flooding in various city localities here on Saturday while Met office warned of similar weather conditions during the next 24 hours.

The rain started in the early hours of Saturday and continued till noon in intervals in different city localities. Highest rain was recorded at Gulshan-e-Ravi where it was 142 mm, at Lakshmi Chowk it was 138 mm, Qurtaba Chowk 125 mm, Gulberg 122 mm, Tajpura 108 mm, Nishtar Town 107 mm, Paniwala Talab 105 mm, Iqbal Town 92 mm, Johar Town 88 mm, Airport 81 mm, Farrukhabad 80 mm, Mughalpura 76 mm, Upper Mall 73 mm, City 66 mm, Chowk Nakhuda 64 mm and Samanabad 56 mm.

Following the rain, the field staff of Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) was active on the roads under the supervision of Managing Director Wasa. The rainwater was drained out till evening as Wasa deployed all its available machinery and manpower.

MD Wasa said all the major roads and ponding points were cleared till evening. He also visited all the disposal stations across the city and monitored the post rain operations. MD Wasa has also directed the operation’s wing to remain vigilant as Met office has warned about more rains in the city.

Met officials warned that moderate to heavy falls may cause urban flooding in low lying areas of Lahore, Gujranwala and Rawalpindi while moderate to heavy rains may trigger landslides in the vulnerable areas of Murree, Galliyat, Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan, Chitral, Dir, Swat, Kohistan, Shangla, Buner, Mansehra & Abbottabad during the next 24 hours.

Met officials said a westerly wave was affecting upper and central parts of the country while monsoon currents from Arabian Sea were also penetrating in upper and central parts of the country.

They predicted that rain-wind/thundershower was expected in Punjab, Pothohar region, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir while isolated heavy falls were also likely in Northeast Punjab, Potohar region and upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the forecast period.

Rainfall was also recorded in many other cities including Jhelum, Mangala, Narowal, Joharabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Kasur, Faisalabad, Hafizabad, Gujranwala, Islamabad, Sialkot, Chakwal, Rawalpindi, Gujrat, Noorpur Thal, DI Khan, Kalam, Lower Dir, Bagrote and Astore. Saturday’s highest maximum temperature was recorded at Turbat where mercury reached 44°C while in Lahore it was 34.1°C and minimum was 21.7°C.