Brief spell of heavy rain adds to Karachiites’ woes

A brief but heavy spell of rain in several areas of Karachi on Sunday afternoon turned roads into canals and low-lying areas into pools of rainwater and sewage.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) officials said there are still chances of rain today (Monday) in Karachi under the influence of the prevailing monsoon system.

“Parts of Karachi received up to 40 millimeters (mm) of rain on Sunday afternoon under the influence of a weather system that is present over north-east Arabian Sea and the adjoining Indian and south-east Sindh region,” Sardar Sarfraz, the chief meteorological officer of Sindh, told The News.

PMD officials said under the influence of the weather system, not only Karachi’s north-eastern areas but some other cities of Sindh, including Mirpurkhas, and some areas of Balochistan, including Othal, Hub and Sakran, also received heavy downpour which resulted in flooding in the hilly areas.

Surjani Town received the highest amount of rainfall which was 40mm, while North Karachi received 38.3mm, Nazimabad 18.5mm, PAF Faisal 16mm, Jinnah Terminal 16mm, MOS 12mm, Saddar 10mm and University Road 7mm of rain. The areas of Landhi, PAF Masroor and Keamari received very little rain.

There were also reports of the overflowing of Thaddo Dam in the outskirts of Karachi and the civil administration had sent resources and machinery to the area to prevent rainwater from entering the residential areas.

Inundated roads

Although roads in many areas of the city were inundated after the rain on Sunday afternoon and evening, District Central was affected the most.

The Gujjar Nullah, which was recently cleaned in the Let’s Clean Karachi campaign by the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) on the directives of Federal Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Zaidi, overflowed near the Peoples Chowrangi, due to which traffic in the area came to a standstill.

The situation at Nagan Chowrangi, Power House Chorangi and UP Mor was similar, as Sher Shah Suri Road was totally submerged by rainwater at those locations causing massive traffic jams. Meanwhile, in District East, Allahwali Chowrangi on Tariq Road was flooded with sewage. Residents in the area shared that the gutter had been overflowing for the past few days and the rain had worsened the situation.

In PECHS Block 6, sewage entered inside homes and offices after the rain. A drain in the vicinity overflowed after the rainfall, after which there was knee-deep water in the area.

On Sharea Faisal, there was also knee-deep water at Nursery and FTC. Traffic was already barred on the main artery due to Jamaat-e-Islami’s rally. Meanwhile, rainwater also accumulated on parts of University Road for a while after the rainfall.

Power cuts

Prolonged power outages occurred after the rain in the Pakistan Chowk, Haqqani Chowk, Burne’s Road, Muhammad Bin Qasim Road, II Chundrigar Road, North Karachi, North Nazimabad, Nazimbad, Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Gulshan-e-Iqbal areas of the city. Brief power cuts were also reported in some areas.

In a statement, K-Electric said the power supply situation remained stable as the city experienced a fresh wave of monsoon rains. It added that it had beefed up its on-ground teams, which remained ready to respond to any localised faults.

Power supply was temporarily switched off in a few low-lying areas including Orangi, Korangi, Gadap, Baldia and Surjani as well as in areas with a high incidence of kundas in the interest of public safety, the power utility said.

“KE teams remained active and ready to respond swiftly to any localised faults or complaints to ensure stability of the entire system. Electricity supply to some areas has been temporarily suspended due to the risk of urban flooding,” said a KE spokesperson.

The power utility maintained that supply of electricity to strategic installations such as the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) pumping stations, airport and key hospitals remained uninterrupted. It also urged its customers to exercise caution during the rains and avoid touching electric poles or power infrastructure.

Mayor’s directives

Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar directed all the municipal staff to remain on the ground after the rainfall. He said public representatives should help citizens during the rain. He also directed the chairmen of union committees to remain vigilant during rainfall.

On the directives of District Municipal Corporation (DMC) Central Chairman Rehan Hashmi, emergency rescue operation remained underway in the district. According to a press statement from the DMC, their heavy machinery was on roads for the drainage of rainwater.

KWSB’s gift package

Amid all this, on the request of KWSB Managing Director Asadullah Khan, Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has announced gifts for the staff of the water board for their hard work during rains and Muharram.

This gift package, according to a statement from board, will be for the board’s high officials and their subordinates. The purpose of the gift package is to encourage the staff of the KWSB for their hard work.

Shah said the officials who would work with zeal and passion would be awarded and this gesture of the Sindh government would inculcate in others the will to serve the people of Karachi.

According to the statement, the KWSB chief also visited the city after the rain started. Mobile dewatering pumps were brought to the low-lying areas of the city, Khan said and added that in all the districts of the city, the board had employed its winching, rodding and sewer cleaning machines.

He directed the officials of all the districts to keep making rounds of the city and make sure that at no place, rainwater or sewage remained accumulated on roads. He also assured that the board’s central complaint system would work round the clock.

In case of power failure, he said their pumps would run through generators, for which they had saved sufficient fuel. He requested the citizens not to open the caps of gutters to drain rainwater. “Garbage in the rainwater chokes our gutters and sewers,” he said, adding that solid waste had also caused the collapse their sewage lines.