KARACHI: At least 12 people were killed so far, mostly from electrocution in the different areas of metropolis as heavy rains continued to lash the city on Thursday.
According to details, commuters faced difficulties reaching offices while majority of schools remained closed as the rain, which started late Wednesday night, flooded roads of the mega city.
Although the threat of storm has been ruled out, still locals are facing a lot of difficulties due to negligence of administration as streets are inundated with water.
The 2km area between Nagin Chowrangi and Power House Chowrangi is flooded with rainwater, and situation seems out of control as the management has disappeared despite the declaration of emergency.
There is no system of drainage, water pipelines are broken and garbage is floating on the streets. The incoming and outgoing ways have been closed for traffic in Surjani Town.
Many areas in the city including North Nazimabad, North Karachi, Orangi, Malir, Drigh Road, and NIPA which received the heaviest rain , are submerged because of the heavy rains while some bridges have turned into virtual swimming pools. Most rain in the city has been recorded in North Karachi at 97 millimeters.
Gujjar Nala area, where the city government launched an operation to remove illegal construction last year, is also submerged in water.
Due to showers, several grid stations have tripped, and many areas including Malir, Korangi, Nazimabad, North Karachi, Surjani Town, P.E.C.H. Society, Gurumandir, Model Colony, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Sohrab Goth and Gulberg are deprived of electricity. Holiday has been declared in the schools.
According to K-Electric (KE), 80 out of 1,600 feeders were affected up until noon. “Some feeders have been switched off in view of safety concerns in areas with water logging, and restoration work will be expedited in affected areas as soon as standing water is wiped out,” said Sadia Dada, KE’s director marketing and communication.
The K-Electric spokesman Fakhar Ahmed while speaking to private TV channels said only 80 feeders of the power distribution company had tripped while 30-40 feeders had been shut down as precautionary measures due to urban flooding. He added that the power distribution company had a total of 1600 feeders.
When asked about reports of power outages from across the city, Ahmed said that besides feeders tripping there were other issues as well that were causing power outages in areas, identifying local faults and PMT issues as the reasons.
Windstorms and rains are expected to lash scattered places in Sindh (Sukkur, Larkana and Shaheed Benazir-abad, etc) and Punjab (Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan, etc), besides parts of Balochistan and upper parts of the country — Hazara, Peshawar, Malakand and Sargodha divisions, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir.
The Sindh government had issued a weather warning on Tuesday, anticipating heavy rains, in which it directed all district disaster management authorities, commissioners and deputy commissioners to ensure that all precautionary measures are taken to avoid any untoward situation as well adopt an effective response mechanism, including issuing an early warning for flash floods.
Moreover, Hub, Badin, Mirpurkhas and other areas of Sindh also received rain whereas forecasts predict light to heavy showers across Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well.
The low-pressure system moving in from the South East is expected to bring over 40mm of rainfall coupled with winds as high as 60 kilometres per hour, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).
According to the PMD, the weather system is going to affect the country’s southern region until Friday after which the focus will shift to the northern region and will continue until Sunday.
INP