LAHORE - Like other parts of country, the ongoing rainy spell have flooded most of the busy areas of the provincial capital with rainwater and turned roads into pools. Heavy rains started in noon and continued in most of city areas for hours on Thursday in episodes as mostly city roads submerged and homes in many parts of the city flooded with water which exposed the performance of the authorities concerned regarding monsoon arrangements.
Many low-lying areas of city have been inundated by ongoing heavy rains, paralysing the daily routine life of the residents. Long queues of vehicles at roads were also witnessed during rain because of stagnant rainwater on these roads, uncovering the poor arrangements made by district administration for flushing out rainwater.
Amongst the most rainy areas are Sanda Road, Lower Mall, Samanabad, Chauburji, Ichra, Mozang, Lakshmi Chowk, Garhi Shahoo, Misri Shah, Ram Garh, Circular Road, Chah Miran, Shadbagh and Baghbanpura. According to the Meteorological Department, maximum rain in Lahore was recorded at 166 millimeters at Jail Road.
In this regard, the DCO Capt (retd) Usman put the authorities of Wasa, Town Administrations and Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) on high alert after rains and directed them to ensure drainage of rainwater from the low-lying areas of the city in order to restore movement in such areas.
After strong winds, the city is experiencing heavy rain falls.
Owing to the continued heavy rains, more than 70 power feeders in the provincial metropolis tripped on Thursday due to weak transmission system and heavy rains, causing power breakdowns for several consecutive hours.
According to details, 70 power feeders tripped due to the rain, causing 3-4 hours of loadshedding in addition to the routine power outages of 7-8 hours.
The areas where feeders remained out of order included Railway Colony, Sharifpura, Muslim Town, Garden Town, Muslim Park, Rahmanpura, DHA, Shalimar and McLeod Road, Ferozpur Road, Walton Road and Ghazi Road.
Meanwhile, residents of these areas protested at various parts of the city against complete failure of Lahore Electric Supply Company in smooth provision of electricity.
They blocked the vehicular movement in the area, before ransacking the electrical equipment of Lesco. According to local Metrological Office, the new spell of monsoon rains has begun in Lahore and other cities of Punjab, which is expected to last for the next three days.
The forecast also includes a mix of clear and cloudy skies with a few showers, chance of a thunderstorm and 4 to 7 mm of rain. Further, the met office forecasted that rain was likely to continue for couple of days as rainy clouds had entered in the north side of Punjab.
The rain has broken the heat wave in the city and people are enjoying the pleasant weather. However, the Mall road, Court Road, Empress Road, Bilal Gunj, Ravi road, Bhati Gate, Nisbat Road and Lakshmi Chowk are those areas where rainwater accumulated, leading to traffic delays.
Further, Lahorites witnessed a cool rainy day, which was a bit hot till the noon but clouds covered the sky later on and it rained with pleasant breeze that changed the climate of the City.
According to Met officials, widespread rain-thundershower associated with gusty winds is expected in central Punjab (Sargodha, Faisalabad and Sahiwal divisions), while at scattered places upper/south Punjab (Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Multan, DG Khan and Bahawalpur divisions), KP, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. While in other parts of the country, hot and humid weather is expected. Rains received and recorded in different parts of the country were Rawalakot 77mm, Gujrat 62mm, Barkhan 58mm, Malamjaba 40mm, Murree 36mm, Saidu Sharif 30mm, Joharabad 28mm, Balakot 23mm, Peshawar and Chirat 20mm, DG Khan 19mm, Astore 15mm, MB Din 13mm, Sialkot and Bannu 11mm, Jehlum, DI Khan and Gujranwala 10mm, Lahore 09mm, Jhang, Parachinar and Pattan 8mm, Gilgit 07mm, Noorpur Thal, Lower dir and Bunji 06mm.