Heavy rain causes urban flooding, disrupts life in Karachi

KARACHI: Widespread rain accompanied by lightning and thunder lashed Karachi Saturday night as rainwater mixed with sewage overflowing from choked lines entered houses and hospitals in the port city.

Areas that received downpours included Baldi Town, Orangi Town, North Karachi, Surjani Town, Gulshan-e-Maymar, Orangi Town, Bahria Town, Saddar, North Nazimabad, Tower, Liaquatabad and Nazimabad.

Following the rain, major arteries in the mega city were submerged with rainwater and commuters were stuck in their vehicles as the city administration had not taken any measure to cope with the rain, despite the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had forecast heavy rain a day earlier.

Commuters faced troubles due to accumulated water mixed with sewage overflowing from choked lines on most of the roads, including MA Jinnah Road and I.I. Chundrigar Road.

With the first drop of rainfall, different parts of the port city, including North Nazimabad and its suburban areas, plunged into darkness due to an electricity supply failure.

Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab warned the Karachiites against stepping out unless extremely necessary, keeping the situation in the city after the heavy rain.

He said that some of the water pumping stations have stopped working. However, he claimed that the rainwater nullahs are flowing at all their capacity.

Wahab also visited different areas of the city to inspect the situation. He ordered all the district municipal corporations to ensure rainwater drainage from roads.

Besides low-lying areas, the rainwater entered houses in the city’s posh area, Defence View, destroying furniture and other valuable goods of the residents.

Despite the PMD’s forecast, the interim Sindh government did not take any measures to deal with the rain as rainwater mixed with sewage entered the operation theatre of the gynaecology ward at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and Civil Hospital ward number 3.

Stagnant water can also be seen around the Sindh Assembly and the Governor House.

As per the statistics issued by the weather department, the maximum amount of rainfall was recorded in Baldia Town (64mm) followed by Surjani Town (62mm).

Orangi Town received 52.2mm, Karachi Airport 41.8mm, Nazimabad received 23.5mm, University Road 29.8mm, North Nazimabad 33.6mm and Gulshan-e-Maymar 23mm of rain.

Meanwhile, K-Electric, the city’s sole electricity distributor, advised the citizens to take care of themselves and their loved ones during the rainy season.

The power utility asked the people to stay away from broken wires, TV and internet cables, electric poles and PMTs as they pose a risk of electrocution.

Earlier today, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had said that a westerly wave was affecting most parts of the country and likely to persist over upper parts on Sunday.

The Met Office forecast that rain coupled with thunderstorms and snowfall over mountains was expected in Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab, Potohar region, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and Kashmir.

Isolated heavy snowfall is likely in northeast and southern Balochistan during the period, predicted the PMD.

On Friday, the Met Office said Karachi was expected to receive heavy rainfall on February 3 and 4.

It is pertinent to mention here that various parts of Karachi received light to moderate rain Friday morning. The areas that received rain included North Nazimabad, North Karachi, Lyari, Baldia Town, Gulistan-e-Johar, Liaquatabad, Saddar, Bahadurabad, Tariq Road, Korangi, Landhi, DHA, Qayyumabad, Mehmoodabad, Ranchorr Line and FB Area.