RAWALPINDI: A record spell of monsoon rain during the ongoing season on Saturday inundated houses and marketplaces, swelled Leh Nullah to a pre-alert level and damaged streets and graveyards across the garrison city, which is expected to receive more rainfall today.

The downpour that lashed the city for almost four hours was the heaviest during the current monsoon season, prompting the administration to summon the army to deal with any untoward situation. According to the Met office, the Kutchery area received 102mm of rain. It inundated low-lying areas of the garrison city forcing people to spend the rest of the day draining rainwater from their houses and shops.

Earlier this week, Leh had touched the danger level, but on Saturday, the nullah touched the pre-alert level with the Wasa and the district administration asking people to move to safer locations. A house along the bank of Leh in Fauji Colony collapsed due to rain but its residents had already moved out due to the danger of flooding.

Wasa Managing Director Saleem Ashraf told Dawn that the heavy spell inundated the low-lying areas but Wasa cleared the streets and roads within two hours. He said that the water level in Leh increased to 11.8 feet and 10.5 feet at Kattarian and Gawalmandi bridges, respectively. The official claimed that by afternoon, the water accumulated in neighbourhoods and roads had been drained and Leh started to ebb after the rain stopped.

Low-lying parts of city inundated; residents spend better part of day draining out rainwater

The low-lying parts of the city submerged as the rainwater entered houses and shops on Iqbal Road, in Sabzi Mandi, Moti Bazaar and adjoining areas where people and shopkeepers remained busy draining out water from their houses and shops till the evening. The rain also caused extensive damage to roads, some of which had been re-laid only recently. The downpour also damaged graves in Dhoke Ratta, Allahabad, Westridge and other parts of the city, as several new graves caved in.

Tall claims exposed

On the other hand, the back-to-back rain spell exposed the tall claims of the two cantonment boards of Rawalpindi – Chaklala Cantonment Board and Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) – as well as the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation.

The areas of Allahabad, Misrial Road, Tench Bhatta, and Lane 4 Peshawar Road experienced inundation because the RCB had started cleaning nullahs only a few days before the start of the monsoon season.

In Saddar, the commercial hub of the cantonment, accumulated rainwater created a slushy mess as the RCB had failed to complete the digging for underground electricity cables for an ongoing project.

The work started at the start of the current year has not been completed. The situation in Chaklala Scheme-III was no different as rainwater accumulated on Imran Khan Avenue in front of the public park.

Likewise, the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation under the administrative control of the Rawalpindi commissioner failed to complete the carpeting of the roads. Usually, this work is either completed before the monsoon or in September after the rainy season is ended.

According to the Met office, 102 millimetre of rain was recorded in Kutchery area, 34mm in Shamsabad and 64mm in Chaklala in Rawalpindi; in Islamabad, 113mm in Bokra, 65mm in Golra, 38mm at Zero Point, 65mm in Saidpur and 01mm at the Islamabad International Airport in Islamabad.

Rain forecast

According to a statement by the Met office on Saturday, heavy rains over the next 24 hours may generate flash flooding in streams of Sialkot, Narowal, Jhelum, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Mandi Bahauddin, Lahore, Hafizabad, Murree, Galiyat, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Attock, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Haripur, Kohistan, Dir, Swat, Shangla, Nowshera, Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda, Kohat, Karak and parts of Kashmir.

It also warned that the rain may cause urban flooding in Gujranwala, Mandi Bahauddin, Lahore, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Sialkot, Narowal, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Layyah, Bhakkar, Dera Ghazi Khan, Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda, Nowshera, Peshawar, Balakot, Bannu, and Karak. Landslides may cause road closures in the vulnerable hilly areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Murree, Galiyat, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan during the forecast period.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2024