Heavy rains coupled with strong winds on Monday resulted in water flooding the Parliament House, Presidency, basement of the Supreme Court (SC) and several other areas in the twin cities, leading to traffic jams at almost every avenue. The capital’s Red Zone presented the look of a canal, as a torrent of water gathered at the constitution avenue, jamming the traffic for hours. A number of VIP vehicles, including those of ministers, got stuck in the rain water. Due to the heavy rain, the National Assembly speaker adjourned the session.
Rainwater also entered the Parliament House and inundated the floors of the Parliament House’s Committee Room No 4, damaging the floor and carpet. The employees were witnessed making hectic efforts to clear the water from the rooms. Moreover, the boundary wall of the Pakistan Secretariat was also damaged as an entire wall of Block R collapsed due to the heavy rain and strong wind. The water also entered the basement of the Supreme Court and trickled down the third storey of the President’s House and parliament. Following the heavy rains almost all the meetings at Parliament House were cancelled. Met Director General Arif Mehmood said 145mm of rain was recorded in Islamabad, adding that rain would continue in the next three to four days.
Meanwhile, the water level in Nullah Leh rose up to 17 feet, however, it receded once the rain stopped. All departments concerned, including flood control rooms of the civic bodies of both the cities, remained on high alerted throughout the day. The heavy rain also suspended routine life in the twin cities in the morning; however, normalcy returned to the cities in the evening.
A lot of water also accumulated in the underpasses across the city and vehicles remained stuck in numerous pools of water at 9th Avenue, 7th Avenue, Faisal Avenue and China Chowk underpasses.
The rainwater also amassed on all major roads of Rawalpindi and traffic virtually came to a standstill because of inundation several areas, including RA Bazaar, TPT Headquarter Battalion, 22 Number, Tench Bhatta, Bakra Mandi, Saddar, Peshawar Road, Misrial, FWO Office, Tahli Mohri, Nazimud Din Road, Margalla Road and Marvi Road in the federal capital. The authorities concerned expressed fear that the flood situation would continue if the rain did not stop in time.
However, roads inundated by the choked drains exposed the poor management of the civic agencies of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Several roads, particularly those in dilapidated conditions, where heavy rainfall brings miseries to motorists and pedestrians, remained closed for traffic for several hours as rainwater submerged them at several points. The amount of rainwater also reflected the poor drainage system in place in many localities.
