Rawalpindi-Heavy rain that hit the city on Friday night caused flooding in several low-lying areas and travel problems across the city. Many roads including flyovers of Committee Chowk and Pirwadhai Mor were submerged.
However, the rain dropped mercury level considerably and people took sigh of relief. WAPDA suspended power supply in various areas of city.
The district government issued rain emergency and put all civic bodies including Water and Sanitation Agency and Municipal Corporation to coup with any kind of mishap, according to Deputy Commissioner (DC) Chaudhry Ali Randhawa. Rail service and domestic and international flights schedule at New Islamabad International Airport were also affected.
According to Met Department officials, Saidpur received 5mm rain; PMD 29mm, Shamasabad 33, Chaklala 34, Golra 1, Bokra 23 and 13.6 mm rain was recorded at Basin Mean. They also said that the water level remained high as much as 6.1 feet at Kattarian and 6 feet at Gawalmandi. However, the district government has also issued warnings for flood in Kattarian and Gawalmandi.
According to details, torrential rain hit the city causing huge troubles for the residents living in low-lying areas. The sewerage system and the seasonal ‘nullahs’ got chocked and rainwater entered houses and shops located at Awan Colony, Shamasabad, Sadiqabad, Shakrial, Dhok Kala Khan, Bilal Colony, Nadim Colony, Tench Bhatta, Kashmir Colony and many other areas.
The residents remained busy in pumping out rainwater from their houses with help of tubs and drums. Scores of residents protested against poor performance of the civic bodies and appealed Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Khan Buzdar to initiate action against high ups of the civic bodies for not cleaning sewerage system and dredging seasonal ‘nullahs’ that caused flood in heavy rain.
Similarly, Kuri Road, Liaquat Bagh, Shangrila Hotel, Committee Chowk and Pirwadhai underpasses, Muslim Town and Ashraf Town were also flooded with heavy rain triggering traffic jam.
“It’s 2:30am and we are still awake and flushing out rainwater that entered our house,” said Azam Ali, a resident of Shamasabad. He said that the area people had requested the civic bodies to clean up the sewerage system of the area to avoid flood in monsoon season but nobody paid heed. He asked the DC to take action against the civic bodies for their failure in cleaning the sewerage system.
Salim Ahmed of Pirwadhai said that heavy rain caused flood in his town. Rainwater inundated streets and roads, he said. The rain washed away a newly-carpeted street in the area, he said.
DC Chaudhry Ali Randhawa, while talking to media men, said that the district government had imposed rain emergency in the city and put all civic bodies on red alert to tackle any kind of emergency. He said that the teams of WASA and other civic bodies were present in low-lying areas with heavy machinery to drain out the rainwater. He said that the water level in Nullah Leh was normal and there was chance of flood. He said that the Municipal Corporation had already done cleaning of most of the tributaries. “Rescue 1123 and our assistant commissioners are also checking the areas,” DC added.
A spokesman for WASA, Umer, also said that the staffers of the civic body along with heavy machinery and suckers were out to clean the roads. He said that WASA staffers also helped commuters stuck in rainwater.