More rains may cause urban flooding

LAHORE:The City received moderate rain here on Wednesday while Pakistan Meteorological Department (PDM) predicted more rains during the next 24 hours. The rain started at noon and continued till evening in spans. The rain inundated several roads but stagnant rainwater was cleared by Wasa staff.

Following the rain, Wasa Managing Director Ghafran Ahmed accompanied by MPA Chaudhry Shahbaz visited Kashmir Road underground water tank and Sultan Ahmed Road Ichhra disposal station.

Talking to media, he said that Kashmir Road underground water tank had been activated and was in use now. He said rainwater was being stored by construction of Kashmir Road Tank. He said that Kashmir Road before the construction of the underground tank, was always flooded by rainwater but after the construction of this tank the road was cleared in no time.

Sultan Ahmed Road Ichhra Disposal Station has also been activated, he said, adding clearance of rainwater took 10 to 12 hours before construction of Sultan Ahmed Road, Ichhra disposal station.

Meanwhile, PMD officials warned that due to torrential rains, low-lying areas in Kashmir, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Narowal, Mianwali, Peshawar, Swabi and Mardan may be inundated.

They said urban flooding in Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin, Benazirabad, Sukkur, Larkana and Jacobabad may occur due to rains while there was a possibility of flash flooding in local drain and hill torrents of Dera Ghazi Khan and Balochistan.

The PMD officials said monsoon currents from Bay of Bengal were continuously penetrating in upper and central parts of the country while another strong monsoon low pressure area (LPA) was likely to approach Sindh today (Thursday). They predicted that more rain and thundershowers were expected in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, East Balochistan and Sindh while heavy rains were expected in lower Sindh, Upper Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, North East Punjab and Kashmir.

Wednesday’s maximum temperature was recorded at Sibbi where mercury reached 46°C while in Lahore, it was 38.2°C and minimum was 27.9°C.

PDMA: Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Punjab Director General Faisal Farid presided over a video link meeting with the officers of District Emergency Operation Centres across Punjab. Director Operation PDMA Khalid Farooqa was also present in the meeting.

The DG PDMA while instructing the officers of District Emergency Operations Centres said that according to the Meteorological Department, more rain are expected in different cities of Punjab in the next five days. More rains likely to cause urban flooding in Gujranwala, Sargodha and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions, he said. He said the drainage should be ensured in a timely manner. District offices of Punjab should be on alert 24 hours a day to deal with any untoward incident. He directed the officers to check the level of water and cleaning of drains in their respective districts on daily basis. The officers must have complete information about the districts and villages where there is a risk of flooding, he added. He advised the officers to make complete arrangements in advance to tackle any emergency situation.