In a brazen act of theft, burglars broke into the Pakistan Meteorological Department’s (PMD) automatic water level gauging station in Rawalpindi, making off with critical equipment used for monitoring floods.

According to the FIR lodged by Usman Shahzad, an electronic engineer at the Pakistan Meteorological Department, the stolen equipment includes batteries, a full assembly for float sensors, Arduino boards, GSM boards with mobile SIMS, a 12-volt solar plate, copper cable, and a steel box.

The theft is believed to have occurred near Katarian bridge after midnight on July 18, with the last automatic SMS received at 12:47am.

After theft of the automatic water level gauging system of the meteorological department for monitoring floods in Rawalpindi, the relevant authorities started installing the new equipment.

The system is expected to be fully restored by Tuesday, but in the meantime, the monitoring of the drain will continue using the manual gauge.

The automatic water level gauging system plays a vital role in providing real-time water level updates of Leh Nullah to officials concerned, enabling them to take prompt action to mitigate flood damages.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department relies on this system to provide critical data for flood forecasting and warning.