Rain disrupts life in City

• Traffic gridlocks across Lahore as major roads flood
• Over 150 LESCO feeders trip, affecting power, water supplies

LAHORE: Citizens on Tuesday suffered as rain lashed the provincial capital and its suburbs, disrupting normal life and causing urban flooding, massive traffic jams as well as frequent power cuts.

The spell of torrential downpour began on Monday-Tuesday midnight following a windstorm. It lasted for at least three hours in different areas including Airport Road, Mall Road, Ferozpur Road, Jail Road, Lakshmi Chowk, Garden Town, Gulberg, Johar Town, Samanabad and Defence, drowning even the poshest areas of the metropolis in a mixture of rain and sewage water.

Several broken down motorcycles and other vehicles were seen on the roads that added to the problems of both the dwellers and commuters.

Officials from Municipal Corporation and other supporting agencies; Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), Lahore Waste Management Authority (LWMC) and Lahore Development Authority (LDA) started reaching the affected areas but all their efforts went in vain for the downpour continued non-stop.

The second spell of rain started around 5 in the morning and continued till 11 am. As a result, all major roads of the city presented scenes like that of lakes, distressing motorists as well as pedestrians.

Rainwater entered houses located in low lying areas where people were seen draining it out. Several hospitals were also affected as rainwater accumulated in different wards, causing problems to the patients.

The city administration made all-out efforts to remove water from the Lakshmi Chowk area, where Lahore DC and WASA MD were present to monitor the water cleanup operation. No such efforts could be seen in any other areas of the city.

Rainfall also exposed the poor quality construction work being continued on the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project as a recently constructed underground station of OLMT collapsed in GPO Chowk. The sinkhole badly affected the flow of traffic in the area.

Amid the traffic gridlocks and flooded roads, low attendance was observed in most of the offices.

The low lying areas where rainwater accumulated, included, Tajpura Scheme, Lakshmi Chowk, Misri Shah, Wasanpura, Multan Road, Chauburji, Mozang Chungi, Muslim Town, Samnabad, Gulberg, New Garden Town, Township, Lahore Railway Station, Lahore General Hospital, Peco Road, Shahdara, Bhatti Gate, Kashmir Road, Chowk Nakhuda, Aziz Road, Eik Moria Pul, Do Moria Pul, Sheranwala Gate, Garhi Shahu, Begumpura, UET, Mughalpura, Shalimar Link Road, Sandha, Shahjamal, Ichhra and Islampura.

Parts of Defence, Model Town and Johar Town were also seen flooded with rainwater.

Lahore Electric Supply Company’s (LESCO) efficiency was also exposed amid the spell of rain as over 150 feeders tripped, resulting in a power cut in major parts of the city. The supply of water was affected consequently.

According to the Met office, Lahore received an average of 190 mm of rain and further downpour has been forecasted during the next 24 hours.

It is worth mentioning here that rain also lashed other cities of Punjab, including Kasur, Shiekhupura, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Narowal, Kamoni, Gujranwala, Faisalabad and Sahiwal, where several incidents of roof collapse were reported.