A “record-breaking” spell of rain in the metropolis that continued for several hours on Wednesday disrupted daily life, inundating streets and low-lying areas.
The rain broke the spell of intense hot and humid weather condition, bringing respite for the heat-stricken people of the provincial capital.
Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that 272mm of rain in Lahore in just nine hours has caused urban flooding while the canal has overflown following heavy downpours.
“All the cabinet members and administration are in the field to clear the water. I am also monitoring the situation in the field and getting updates from all over Lahore continuously,” the chief minister said as he visited the city to oversee relief operations.
According to Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa), the city’s Lakhsmi Chowk area received 259mm of rain, Nishter Town 258mm, Gulshan-e-Ravi 251mm, Johar Town 250mm, Qurtaba Chowk 241mm, Tajpura 238mm, Pana Wala Talab 222mm and Iqbal Town 221mm.
The rain spell, which started earlier in the morning, paralysed the city as all the major roads and connecting streets were waterlogged making commuting impossible. Many vehicles broke down on the roads due to knee-deep water.
Rainwater entered the houses in low-lying areas of Shah Jamal and Tajpura while the electricity supply was cut, making life more miserable.
Rain caused disruption of electricity in parts of Lahore as more than 200 feeders of the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) tripped, plunging various parts of the city into darkness.
Other cities of Punjab, including Gujranwala, Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Jhelum, Phalia, Sharaqpur, Nankana and Sheikhupura, are lashed by rains. The continuous rain also inundated the low-lying areas in different cities, causing traffic disruption.
Last week, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) warned that moist currents from the Arabian Sea are likely to penetrate in upper parts of the country, and a westerly wave was also likely to enter the upper parts of the country on Monday, causing heavy rainfall from July 4 to 7 across the country. Isolated heavy falls are also expected in upper Punjab, Islamabad, Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the next 24 hours.
Flood warning
According to the latest meteorological analysis, deep trough of the westerly wave along with strong incursion of monsoon currents from both sources and approaching upper air circulation, due to which widespread heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy falls at scattered places is expected over the upper catchments of Rivers Sutlej, Ravi and Chenab and up to some extent over River Jhelum.
Due to these meteorological conditions, the advisory added, very high to exceptionally high-level flooding is expected in River Chenab.
It further said that the flood situation in rivers Ravi and Sutlej would depend upon releases from India and high to very high-level flooding is also expected in the nullahs of Rivers Ravi and Chenab.
