Monsoon season starts from today

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Sunday stated that all the cities across the country would face the threat of urban flooding while some of them may have flash floods due to expected 20 percent more rains in the monsoon season that would start on June 27 (Monday).

Talking to The News, PMD Director General Dr Ghulam Rasul said the initial rains would not cause any flooding because the dry soil would absorb the water but after that the rains may play havoc in various cities. “The monsoon season now gets started on June 27 and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and upper parts of Punjab including Rawalpindi and Sargodha are likely to receive light rains on Monday and Tuesday,” he said.

He said the monsoon rains were likely to start from the upper parts of the country that would spread towards central and southern regions during this week. “During the first spell of monsoon, widespread rains with isolated heavy thundershowers and strong gusty winds are expected in Islamabad, Punjab, KP, Fata and AJK. Scattered rains and dust thundershowers are also expected in Sindh and Balochistan during the coming week,” he said. He said some areas were likely to have flash floods in the monsoon season such as Koh-e-Sulaiman, AJK and mountainous areas of the Rawalpindi Division.

Dr Ghulam Rasul said the occupied Kashmir would receive heavy rains due to which the flow of water in the rivers heading towards Pakistan would increase considerably and may cause flooding in the catchment areas.

The PMD director general said they had informed the chief secretary of Balochistan and director general of PDMA about expected heavy rains in Balochistan and also advised them to evacuate the people from the areas falling in the water routes.

“A real time information is being disseminated to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and local administration across the country and now it is up to the provinces to respond positively and take measures to minimise loss in case of flooding,” he said.