Scattered Rains Soak City, Met Predicts Continued Showers

News Desk 

Lahore: The city experienced heavy-to-moderate but scattered rain, with similar weather conditions predicted for the next 24 hours by the Meteorological Department on Saturday.

The rain, which began early in the morning and continued intermittently until evening, saw the highest rainfall recorded at Tajpura with 57 mm, according to WASA.

Other areas recorded the following amounts: 56 mm at Mughalpura, 50 mm at the Airport, 49 mm at Lakshmi Chowk, 46 mm each at Farrukhabad and Iqbal Town, 44 mm each at Pani Wala Talab and Gulshan-e-Ravi, 43 mm each at Upper Mall and Chowk Nakhuda, 37 mm each at Nishtar Town and Samanabad, 30 mm at WASA Head Office Gulberg, 28 mm at Qurtaba Chowk, 18 mm each at City and Jail Road, and 17 mm at Johar Town.

In response to the rain, WASA’s MD, Ghafran Ahmed, deployed heavy machinery to the most affected localities and directed field formations to immediately begin the rainwater drainage process. He personally supervised the operation and later visited other city areas and WASA disposal stations.

Traffic slowed down on Canal Bank Road, Ferozpur Road, Multan Road, and other localities due to the rain.

A large number of motorcyclists sought refuge under city underpasses, causing traffic jams. Many traffic signals were out of order, and the absence of traffic wardens to manually control traffic exacerbated the situation.

By evening, most of the stagnant rainwater on main roads had been cleared, and WASA’s field formations remained stationed at emergency camps to handle further rainfall.

Meanwhile, MET officials warned that torrential rains might cause flash floods in local nullahs and streams of Kashmir, Northeast Balochistan, and the hill torrents of Dera Ghazi Khan on July 7. Heavy rains may also cause urban flooding in Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Narowal, and Faisalabad during this period.

Landslides may disrupt roads at vulnerable points in the hilly areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Murree, Galliyat, Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan. Strong monsoon currents from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal are penetrating the upper and central parts of the country, while a fresh westerly wave is affecting these regions.

MET officials predicted dry weather in most parts of the country, with rain-wind/thundershowers expected in South Punjab, Upper Sindh, Eastern Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir, Potohar region, and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Heavy falls are also likely in isolated places in Northeast Balochistan and Upper Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Saturday’s highest maximum temperature was recorded at Nokundi and Dalbandin, where the mercury reached 48°C, while in Lahore, it was 34.5°C, with a minimum temperature of 20.3°C.