Parts of Karachi may receive heavy rains today

Different areas of Karachi received light rain or drizzle on Thursday night followed by a dust storm under the influence of a strong monsoon system that has entered southern Sindh from the neighbouring India, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) officials said and predicted proper rains in different areas of the city on Friday with some heavy showers.

"Dust storm followed by light rain and drizzle has been reported from the southern areas of Karachi, including Gulshan-e-Hadeed and Malir areas, under the influence of a strong monsoon system that is capable of causing moderate to heavy showers in Karachi and its suburbs in the next two to three days,” Chief Meteorological Officer (CMO) Sindh Dr Sardar Sarfraz told The News.

According to PMD data, Gulshan-e-Hadeed received five millimetres of rain, Orangi Town 3.9mm of rain, Nazimabad received one millimetres of rain while Jinnah Terminal, Masroor Base and some other areas received less than one millimetre of rain on Thursday night.

Weather pundits had earlier warned that this second monsoon system was almost 90 percent identical to the previous one and it could cause more severe rains in Karachi and other parts of southern Sindh from July 14 to July 18, saying heavy rains could cause urban-flooding and waterlogging in different areas of Karachi as well as Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin and Mirpurkhas.

“Another powerful monsoon system from the Bay of Bengal, which is almost 90 per cent identical to the previous system which caused devastation in Sindh and Balochistan, has entered southern Sindh,” said Dr Sarfraz.

KE clarifies facts

As the torrential rainfall continued to batter the city during Eid days, different electric shock-related incidents were reported in different parts of the city on July 11 and July 12.

The K-Electric (KE) in a press statement said that in the seven incidents reported in the city, no broken wire of the KE nor any of its poles was found to be involved. Of these cases, three were non-fatal.

While providing details about these incidents, the KE’s spokesperson said that at the KE they deeply empathise with the bereaved family of the victims and affected people. “However, almost all of these incidents occurred due to reasons beyond the KE’s own infrastructure. Out of these reported 7 unfortunate cases, 6 do not involve K-Electric’s infrastructure at all. whereas in one case affectee got shocked during an attempt to touch an intact and live HT Line.”

As per media reports, four incidents took place on 11 July. One was in Korangi in which a man named Ali Sher Khan got electrocuted due to damaged wiring inside a shop. In another unfortunate incident in the Garden area, two men on a bike received a fatal electric shock from a streetlight pole. Another fatal incident was reported in DHA Phase 6 in which a gatekeeper named Mehboob was electrocuted via a privately installed spotlight wire hanging on the grill of a house. A non-fatal incident was also reported in the Korangi area in which the victim named Faraz received a shock within the premises of a hotel.

On July 12, three unfortunate incidents involving electric shock were reported. One non-fatal accident occurred in Azizabad, FB Area, in which the victim named Kashif received an electric shock from the ruptured illegal switch of a streetlight which he was reportedly trying to switch off. Another incident was reported in Mullah Jam Goth, in which the victim Moveed got electrocuted while operating a water pump inside home.

The remaining one non-fatal incident that was reported on 12 July involving four minors occurred on the roof of a house which was encroached and compromised the safe distance with electricity right-of-way.

The KE said that as per information it received, all minors are safe and out of danger. However, the area is highly encroached, and K-Electric had also served a proper notice to residents on May 1, 2022, in this regard. As per initial reports about this incident, the minors reportedly tried to touch an intact HT line and received a shock as a result. The K-Electric’s infrastructure on the incident site was found completely intact with proper earthing and grounding.

Additionally, on 11 July, there was a case that emerged from the North Karachi 11-F area, which was initially misreported as electrocution, but later reports indicated that the cause of death was not due to electric shock. The KE infrastructure at the reported incident site was found completely intact, and no current leakage was found.

The KE’s spokesperson, while expressing deepest grief on all unfortunate incidents, also reiterated the importance of following safety measures, especially during rains, so that such incidents can be avoided in the future.