Worst traffic jams follow heavy rain

LAHORE: Monsoon rain inundated most of the city areas resulting in worst traffic jams as well as serious inconvenience for the citizens here Friday.

The 47mm rain lashed out at the city in the afternoon and within minutes it showed its strength forcing most of the moving vehicles to go on a halt. Rainwater inundated most of the major city roads and entered houses situated in low-lying areas.

Met officials said weak seasonal low lies over Northwest Balochistan while monsoon currents are penetrating eastern parts of country and likely to continue during next few days. They added that a trough of westerly wave lies over north Afghanistan and its adjoining areas.

Met officials predicted that hot and humid weather is expected in most parts of the country while rain-thunderstorm is expected at scattered places in Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, DG Khan, Multan, Malakand, Hazara, Kohat, Bannu, DI Khan, Zhob, Kalat, Mirpurkhas divisions, Islamabad, Kashmir and Fata.

On Friday, rain-thunderstorm occurred at scattered places in Sargodha and Gujranwala division while at isolated places in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Kohat, Kalat, Hyderabad divisions, Islamabad and Kashmir.

Rainfall was also recorded in other cities, including Jhang (91mm), Lahore (Punjab University 47mm, PBO 14mm), Mangla (32mm), Toba Tek Singh and Jhelum (27mm), Chakwal (26mm), Joharabad (16mm), Multan (09mm), Faisalabad and Sargodha (08mm), Bahawalpur (07mm), Gujrat (04mm), Murree (03mm), Rawalpindi and Kamra (02mm), Sialkot (01mm), Cherat (31mm), Kohat (03mm), Risalpur (Trace), Garhi Dupatta (12mm), Kotli (04mm), Khuzdar (03mm) and Chhor (02mm).

Friday’s maximum temperature was recorded at Nokkundi and Dalbandin where mercury reached 45°C while in Lahore, it was 33°C, minimum was 27°C and humidity level was 61 percent.

On the other hand, the citizens were left at the mercy of stagnant rainwater as none of the officials of civic bodies were seen on their toes to drain out the rainwater. City’s drainage system once again proved that it was unable to handle such volume of rainwater.

Following heavy rain, majority of traffic signals in the city went out of order while traffic policemen also went into hiding resulting in tangled vehicles on various city roads. Witnesses said that rainwater had submerged parts of several major roads especially parts of The Mall, including the portion right in front of Jinnah Hall, the symbol of City District Government Lahore. Citizens said as over two to three feet rainwater was present there.

Similarly, entry on The Mall from other connecting roads such as Hall Road, Beadon Road, Lawrence Road, GPO, Lahore High Court, Anarkali and etc was stopped as these roads were flooded with rainwater.

Sources in Wasa claimed that the situation came to worst after majority of water pumps installed by Wasa went out of order due to electricity shutdowns. Unfortunately most pumps didn’t have a backup generator so they remained silent for several hours.

Worst traffic jams were witnessed on Davis Road, Allama Iqbal Road, Habibullah Road, Samanabad Morh, Jail Road, Chauburji, Gulshan-e-Ravi, Main Boulevard Gulberg, MM Alam Road, Multan Road, Canal Bank Road, Mozang Chungi and inner streets of different localities, including Johar Town, Township, Green Town, Wahdat Colony, Ichhra and Islamia Park.

Residents of several low-lying localities, including Ittehad Colony, Al-Hamd Colony, Wahdat Colony, Poonch Road, Satluj Block, Allama Iqbal Town, Samanabad and Islamia Park were seen throwing out rainwater from their houses with buckets and other utensils. These areas were badly affected due to accumulated rainwater.

As most of the public representatives and senior government officers were busy in watching the Panama case decision, junior staff of civic agencies especially Wasa and Lahore Waste Management Company also disappeared from their camps instead of cleaning the roads.

Jamil, a resident of Habibullah Road, said since childhood he saw that Laxmi Chowk and Haj Complex submerged in rainwater and all projects done in past to drain out rainwater had failed. He said over two feet water was on the roads inundating Montgomery Road, McLeod Road, Nisbat Road and Railway Road. He claimed that no Wasa official was seen at the Emergency Monsoon Camp erected at all major points to deal with such emergency.

Sajid, a resident of Township, said the roads on both sides of main drain were submerged in the rainwater due to which commuters faced serious problems. Mustafa, a resident of Johar Town, said there was over two feet water outside his house. Mrs Mujahid, a resident of Faisal Town, said over one feet rainwater was present in her house. She added that she had faced similar situation last year but ironically the government did nothing in this period to save residents.