Heavy monsoon downpour lashes Karachi, flooding roads, leaving 11 dead (GEO NEWS)

Friday June 30 2017

Wreaking havoc: Drivers push their vehicles stuck in stagnant water near Karachis Water Pump
area. PHOTO: ONLINE

KARACHI: Heavy showers lashed different areas of the metropolis Thursday evening, leaving several
streets flooded and most localities without electricity.

At least 11 people lost their lives in rain-related accidents, including drowning, electrocution, and ceiling
collapse, this monsoon season. Of these victims, four were children.

Numerous roads in the city were flooded with waist-deep water, as clogged and dysfunctional drains
added to the woes of the citizens.
However, policemen in the Central District started relief work early night, helping motorists stuck in the
downpour, assisting them in pushing their vehicles to the roadsides, and trying to determine and fix car
problems.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), on the other hand, has forecasted that there are high
chances rain will continue today (Friday) as well.

As many as 160 feeders tripped, plunging a large number of localities into darkness. Some of these areas
included Malir, Airport and its surroundings, Liaquatabad, Keamari, Gulshan Iqbal Block 10, Shershah,
North Karachi, Federal B Area Block 2, and Saddar.

Rainwater flooded the city's main thoroughfares, including Shahrah-e-Faisal, near Gora Qabrustan.
Rainwater also entered houses and mosques of KBR society near Gujjar Nala and roads adjacent to
Governor and CM house.

Sindh government has declared rain emergency in the government hospitals of the city.

Elected district representatives and members of district administration remain engaged in draining out
the rainwater from their respective mandated constituencies and areas.

Residents living in the Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) area were stuck in their houses as the roads
outside were completely flooded with rainwater. Areas surrounding Teen Talwar, Khayaban-e-Shahbaz,
and Khayaban-e-Rahat were the worst affected.
Rain, flooding wreak havoc in Karachi (DAWN NEWS)

Dawn Report|Updated June 30, 2017

KARACHI/LAHORE: Torrential rain on Thursday wrought havoc on the creaky civic infrastructure of
Karachi, causing massive urban flooding and widespread power outages, as the Pakistan Meteorological
Department said the first monsoon spell was likely to lose its strength in the next 24 hours.

The downpour which began in the city on Wednesday intensified on Thursday evening, dumping a
total of 54mm (a little over two inches) of rainfall over 48 hours. The Met Office said the monsoon
current centred over Sindh, yielding more rainfall there than anywhere else in the country.

Rescue officials and police said seven people lost their lives in rain-related electrocutions and accidents
in Karachi over the past 48 hours.

Meanwhile, the Kabul River at Nowshera was in low flood and all the other major rivers were normally
flowing. Low to medium flooding was expected in the nullahs of the Ravi and Chenab along with hill
torrents of Dera Ghazi Khan division during the period, the Flood Forecasting Bureau said.

First monsoon spell may lose strength in 24 hours

The Met Office said the rain causing moderate monsoon currents penetrating the country were likely to
weaken during the next 24 hours. The shallow westerly wave affecting upper parts of the county was
also likely to move eastwards during this time, gradually culminating in the current spell of windstorms
and rains which had been very heavy at places.
The department said rain/dust-thundershowers with gusty winds occurred at a number of places in
Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas divisions, while at isolated places in Gujranwala, Lahore, Rawalpindi,
Malakand, Hazara, Bannu, Kohat, Zhob, Quetta divisions and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Light rain continued in Lahore throughout the day. There were, however, brief spells of somewhat heavy
rain. It was heavily overcast in the evening and the Met Office forecast more rain during the night.

It was the first working day after the Eid holidays, but attendance in offices remained thin because of
rain. The maximum temperature in Lahore was 28 degrees centigrade. Karachi was the most affected
though it received moderate rain by Punjab standards. The metropolis received over 54mm of rainfall
since the wet spell began on Wednesday evening.

The Met Department says that in the next 24 hours mainly hot and humid weather was expected in
most parts of the country. However, more rain-thundershowers with gusty winds are expected at
isolated places in Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Hazara divisions, lower Sindh (Hyderabad, Karachi,
Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar and Shaheed Benazirabad divisions), Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Our Correspondent adds from Khuzdar: Intermittent rains, which have lashed Khuzdar district for the
last 24 hours, have caused flash floods and disrupted the road communication.

The local administration, with the help of the Frontier Corps, has reached the people stranded in
different areas of the district.

A large number of people, who had left for picnic in the area during the Eid holidays, were stranded by
the floodwater.

Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri has taken notice of the situation and directed the PDMA and
Commissioner of Kalat division Hashim Ghilzai to take immediate steps to rescue and evacuate the
stranded people and vehicles from the affected areas.

A large number of people and passengers were rescued from the affected areas after restoration of
road network, Deputy Commissioner of Khuzdar Sohail-Ur-Rehman told Dawn, adding that efforts were
under way to rescue the remaining people.
According to sources, Wagor, Karkh and Mola areas were badly affected. A large number of vehicles
were also stuck up in the affected areas.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2017

The Express Tribune > Pakistan

Karachi swamped and paralysed

KARACHI: June 30, 2017

Heavy monsoon downpour may have offered Karachiites a brief respite from sweltering heat but
opened Pandoras Box for the megacity, flooding streets and roads with dirty muddy water, causing
traffic logjams and plunging most of the city into darkness amid reports of casualties.

The rain, which started on Wednesday, died down during the day on Thursday only to lash the
metropolis more heavily hours later. And if the Meteorological Department forecasts come true, it will
continue to rain until Friday evening.

The major rainwater drains including Gujjar Nullah, Mehmoodabad Nullah, Shadman 14/A Nullah,
Golden Town Nullah, Korangi Nullah and Manzoor Colony Nullah overflowed swamping the low-lying
areas. The Katchi Abadis, or slums, were the worst hit where houses were flooded with knee-deeps
rainwater.

The underpasses built on different arteries, especially Liaquatabad Underpass, Gharibabad Underpass,
Nazimabad Underpass, and Golimar Underpass, turned into swimming pools in the absence of proper
drainage arrangements.
The virtual paralysis of the city exposed the tall claims of the citys municipal authorities including
District Municipal Corporations, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and cantonments boards who
boasted of better preparations to deal with monsoon rains.

Buck-passing started immediately. Deputy Mayor Arshad Vohra decried what he called lack of
cooperation and support from the provincial government. He said comprehensive planning was
required to deal with natural disasters of this magnitude.

The main arteries, especially University Road, Sharea Faisal, Sir Shah Suleman Road, Shahrah-e-Pakistan,
Jahangir Road, Korangi Road, II Chundrigarh Road, MA Jinnah Road Abul Hassan Isphahani Road, Khalid
Bin Waleed Road, Tariq Road and Expressway, were inundated with massive traffic snarl-ups.

The K-Electric was also caught ill-prepared as 483 feeders of the power utility tripped, plunging most
neighbourhoods of the city into darkness. These included Korangi, Landhi, Nazimabad, Liaquatabad,
Malir, Federal B Area, Saddar, Gurumandir, Mehmoodabad, Gulshan-e-Maymar, Orangi Town, and
North Karachi.

The power utility said restoration of the feeders would start only after the rain stopped, meaning
residents would have to go without electricity for hours.

A K-Electric spokesperson advised people to stay away from electricity pylons and transformer to avoid
electrocution. But the advice was apparently thrown to the winds by residents as at least six people died
after suffering electric shock in Orangi Town, Shah Faisal Colony, Hussainabad, Liaquatabad and
Shahrah-e-Noor Jahan areas.

The Sindh Building Control Authority, meanwhile, declared more 100 residential structures dangerous
warning residents to evacuate to avoid losses. The authority has also set up an Emergency Centre at the
Civic Centre.

According to the Met Office data, the city received over 50 millimeters of rain. The current monsoon
rain spell will continue until Friday evening, Abdur Rashid, the Director Met Karachi, told a news
channel in a telephone interview.

Monsoon rains also lashed several districts in rural Sindh bringing down the mercury. Low-lying areas
were inundated, while cities suffered hours-long power outages. At least six people, including three
women, were reportedly killed when lightning struck in Tharparkar and Mirpurkhas districts. The rain
started on Wednesday with the Met Office recording the highest rainfall of 12 millimetres in Badin
district and 8mm in Thatta district.

Apart from Sindh, monsoon rains also lashed different regions of Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber-
Pakhtunkhwa. Regrettably, the country lacks a comprehensive flood protection plan to avoid losses in
men and material.

Though the top civil leadership has once again swung into action directing the authorities concerned to
take preemptive measures in order to avoid loses but they appears to be least concerned about the
recently approved National Flood Protection Plan 2015-2025 which requires funds for effective
implementation.

The PC-1 of the 10-year National Flood Protection Plan worth Rs1.77.66 billion is all set to be completed
by July end, but so far it is unclear who will provide funds for its implementation, an official told The
Express Tribune on condition of anonymity.
National Disaster Management Authority Chairman Lt Gen Omar Mahmood Hayat has meanwhile
convened an emergency meeting to review arrangements made by the authority to deal with any
untoward situation during the ongoing monsoon rains.

He was briefed about the current situation of water inflow and outflows in the major rivers of the
country, road situations, highways/motorways, water situation in the dams among others. Hayat
stressed upon the need for strengthening coordination between all the concerned departments during
monsoon and to work like a team.