Rawalpindi - Mercury levels dropped on Friday after a heavy storm hit the city. The rain continued for more than 8 hours. According to the Met Off, 31mm rain was recorded at Saidpur, 32mm in PMD, 33mm in RAMC, 31mm in Chaklala, 27mm in Golra and 26 mm rain recorded at Bokra. A rescue 1122 spokesman told media the water level in Nullah Leh at Katarian was 5.48 feet and 4.49 feet in Gawalmandi. The maximum temperature was recorded in the city was 14 degrees Celsius.On the other hand, the rain also caused problems for residents of low laying areas of Cantt and Garrison as the streets and roads were flooded.

Similarly, the sewerage system in many areas got choked due to which dirty water entered the houses and damaged precious households.As a result, a massive traffic jam hit the city. Following instructions of Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Capt (retd) Bilal Iftikhar, the traffic wardens tried their level best to ease the traffic flow. Over 15 domestic and international flights departing from and scheduled to land at Benazir Bhutto Islamabad International Airport faced delay or cancellations due to heavy rain.

According to Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) spokesman, the management sprang into action soon after the rain by sending the workers to rain affected areas that pumped out water with heavy machines.

He said the agency had also dredged the Nullahs following reports of heavy rain in the city.

Some of the domestic flights that could not depart or land in time included Skardu-Islamabad and four flights from Islamabad to Karachi, Chitral and Multan. Similarly, the international flights which faced delay or cancellations were Kabul- Islamabad, Islamabad -Jeddah, Toronto, Dubai, Paris and Riyadh.