KARACHI - Heavy rainfall hit the metropolis on Wednesday, claiming six lives and plunging major parts of the city into darkness as more than 400 feeders tripped. Many parts of the city faced power outages while major roads got inundated.

K-Electric operational staff stayed till the rain continued in the city.

Following the power breakdown, water pumping stations, including Dhabaji Pumping Station, stopped functioning, suspending water supply to the metropolis. K-Electric has claimed that the power supply to water pumping stations, including Dhabaji, has been restored and rest of the feeders will be operational as the rain stops.

On the other side, the city government’s tall claims of dealing with possible deluge proved to be hollow as major roads and streets were flooded with water. Hundreds of vehicles and motorbikes stalled due to the rainfall. The tall claims of cleaning the drains ahead of the monsoon proved to be a pack of lies as massive rainwater got accumulated on the roads.

According to a Met Office, the city is likely to receive rain during the next 48 hours.

The Met Office also said that as many as 25 millimetres of rainfall had been recorded in the city and the intermittent downpour was expected in the next 48 hours.

Maximum temperature is expected to range between 36 to 38 degrees centigrade during the period.

The maximum temperature recorded in the city on Wednesday was 38.5 degrees centigrade whereas the minimum temperature was recorded at 30.5 degrees centigrade. Humidity at the start of day was recorded as 73 percent, whereas it was 61 percent in the evening.

The loss of lives of at least six people has also been reported in different rain- related incidents such as electrocution, roof fall and others.

KMC says well prepared to deal with rains

Meanwhile, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) claimed it was all set to control emergent situation during monsoon rains in the city.

Karachi Deputy Mayor Dr Arshad Vohra on Wednesday, while addressing a press conference, said that all rain-related municipal arrangements had been finalised to provide relief to the people during the current monsoon season.

He informed that all necessary machinery to control the situation had been provided to all six District Municipal Corporations while rescue vehicles had also been deputed in all the districts for any untoward situation.

Vohra said that water was being drained out from all underpasses of the city for smooth traffic flow.

He said that precautionary measures were being taken to save the citizens, and that the municipal authorities were in contact with K-Electric to control any emergency.

The deputy mayor informed the media that all district municipal authorities’ heads would be responsible for removing the hurdles from all sewerage lines and nullahs in their respective areas.

He said that doctors and paramedical staff were in a state of high alert to control any sort of emergency. Earlier, Vohra presided over a meeting to review arrangements for dealing with the effects of monsoon rains.

After the prediction of heavy rains by PDMA, the deputy mayor directed the concerned officials to take all possible measures and utilise the resources to provide relief to people during rains.

He further directed that better coordination be ensured between municipal authorities and other authorities for better services.

Over 100 buildings declared dangerous

Meanwhile, over 100 buildings in Karachi have been declared dangerous. Lyari and Saddar Town are the areas that have most of these buildings that have been declared dangerous, said a spokesperson for the Sindh Building Control Authority.