RAWALPINDI: The rain that lashed the twin cities on Tuesday morning raised the water level in Nullah Leh triggering flooding in the low-lying areas of Rawalpindi and causing gridlocks on roads.

Besides, due to the heavy rain in Karachi, the flight schedule at the Islamabad International Airport (IIA) was also slightly disturbed.

Traffic remained clogged on various roads as rainwater accumulated at Faizabad Interchange, Rawal Road and Committee Chowk. Long queues of vehicles could be seen on the roads with commuters stuck for hours.

“It would have been better for me to stay at home because I have been stuck in the traffic at Mareer Chowk for the last half an hour,” said Mr Bilal, a motorist.

Rainwater also inundated Rashid Minhas Road, Rawal Road, Shamsabad and Rehmanabad, causing problems mostly for motorcyclists and pedestrians.

At Islamabad International Airport, the flight operation was slightly disturbed as the arrival of two flights from Karachi was delayed due to bad weather in Karachi. However, the departure of domestic flights and international flights remained undisturbed.

The PIA said the management had chalked out flight schedules keeping in view the weather conditions due to which no major delay was reported.

During the rain, the water level in Leh Nullah increased and areas along the waterway were flooded, including the underpass at Committee Chowk.

The rain started in the morning and continued till the afternoon with intervals, bringing the mercury down to 25 degrees Celsius.

The district administration, Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa), Civil Defence Department and Rescue 1122 remained on high alert throughout the day.

The Meteorological Department recorded 99 millimetres (mm) of rainfall at Zero point, 45mm at Saidpur, two mm at Bokra in Islamabad and 87mm at Shamsabad and 34mm at Chaklala in Rawalpindi. It predicted more rain in the twin cities during the next 48 hours.

However, the rain was mostly reported from Liaquat Bagh to Faizabad while Raja Bazaar, Soan, Chaklala Scheme-III and adjoining areas received light rain. The downtown areas did not receive much rain.

The CDA and Wasa officials remained busy in the afternoon to drain out rainwater from different areas.

The Met Office said: “Strong monsoon currents are penetrating in lower and upper parts of the country. A weak westerly wave is present over northwestern parts of the country which is likely to strengthen on Wednesday.”

It said rain with gusty winds were expected in most parts of Islamabad, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Kashmir while heavy falls were also expected in upper Punjab, upper KP and Kashmir. More rainsare expected in Sindh and eastern Balochistan during the period.

“The water level in Leh Nullah rose to 12 feet but the situation remained under control due to dredging of the nullah before the monsoon,” said Wasa Managing Director Raja Shaukat Mehmood.

“We already have imposed a rain emergency from July 1 to September 15. Wasa officials remained alert to deal with any emergency. The heavy rain lashed the catchment area of Leh Nullah and it raised the water level in the nullah. However, the water receded an hour after the rain stopped,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2020