PESHAWAR: At least four people were injured in an incident of roof collapse after rain coupled with gusty winds lashed the provincial capital on Thursday.

The Rescue 1122 said the roof of a house caved in on Kohat Road in the provincial capital trapping four people under the rubble.

It said its workers pulled out those people, including Noorullah, Maseehullah, Zahid and Yasin.

In a statement, the Rescue 1122 also said the rainwater entered markets and low-lying areas in the provincial capital, Lakki Marwat and Bara tehsil of Khyber district and its ‘disaster team’ pumped it out.

It said the provincial capital’s Mathra Bazaar, Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Road, Kachi Mohallah, Achini Road and Kagawala areas and Lakki Marwat’s Gul Waliabad, Faqeerano Qabristan and other markets were flooded in the heavy downpour.

According to Rescue 1122, a seminary was inundated in Bara tehsil of Khyber district. The rescue workers removed water from the areas with the help of ‘de-watering pumps’.

Torrential rain flooded most roads in Peshawar causing traffic jams to the inconvenience of motorists, motorcyclists, commuters and pedestrians.

Rainwater accumulated on the University Road and Khyber Road and in Hayatabad and other parts of the city. The Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit service for Kohat Road and Hayatabad areas remained suspended for more than one and a half hours due to the accumulation of water on the track.

The heavy rain and strong winds, which blew at the speed of 50-60 kilometres per hour, snapped power lines in many parts of the city causing power outages for long hours.

The Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar company said it received reports about inundated roads from several areas, so it immediately sprang into action to drain rainwater.

In a statement, it said its workers used ‘de-watering pumps’ to remove water from Dalazak Road, University Road, Kohat Road, Charsadda Road, Rahatabad Road and other parts of the city.

The WSSP said the dumping of solid waste and plastic bags caused the clogging of drains in many parts of the city, so the roads and other areas were flooded during the heavy rain.

The rainstorm also lashed Charsadda district flooding several areas. However, no damage to public life and property was reported.

Rainwater gathered in the Old Charsadda Bazaar, Kuladher, Utmanzai, Tarangzai and other parts of the district.

A service road and a boundary wall, which were constructed recently at the cost of Rs20 million, were washed away by rainwater in Khanmai area.

The Met Office said Takht Bhai area received 42 millimetres of rain, Peshawar 38, Bannu 24, Cherat 20, Balakot three and Kakul one in the day.

It warned that heavy rains could generate ubran flooding in Peshawar, Nowshera and Mardan from July 21 to July 23.

The Met Office forecast downpour with strong winds in Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, North and South Waziristan, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Karak, Kohat, Hangu, Orakzai, Kurram, Khyber, Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan and Swabi districts for Friday night.

It also said that ‘scattered to fairly widespread rain’ was expected to fall in Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Kohistan, Torghar, Haripur, Buner, Shangla, Swat, Malakand, Lower and Upper Dir, Bajaur and Mohmand districts in the day.

In a late night development, a woman was killed and another woman and a child suffered injuries after their house collapsed in Dattakhel tehsil of North Waziristan tribal district due to heavy rain.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2022