KARACHI: Two people were killed in rain-related incidents in the metropolis as several city areas received light rain/drizzle on Thursday, police and rescue services officials said.

A man died from electrocution on I.I. Chundrigar Road. Mithadar SHO Rana Hamid Ali said that Saeed Alam, 26, was working on the roof of a private bank when he got an electric shock and died. The body was taken to the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi for medico-legal formalities.

A teenage boy drowned on the outskirts of the city. Gulshan-i-Maymar SHO Abdul Ghaffar Korai said some boys were swimming in a pond which had developed by rainwater near Gulshan-i-Karim Society. One of the children, identified as Hunain Ansar, 12, drowned in the pond.

An Edhi Foundation spokesperson said that the pond was 10 to 11 feet deep. The body was recovered and taken to a nearby hospital.

Several parts of the city received light rain/drizzle early on Thursday morning, turning the weather very pleasant. The maximum temperature recorded was 32 degrees Celsius. The met office recorded maximum rain in DHA Phase II 13mm, old area airport and Quaidabad 11mm each.

It has forecast largely cloudy weather in the city on Friday with chances of light rain/drizzle. The maximum temperature is likely to range between 31 and 33 degrees Celsius.

As major cities across the country are experiencing devastating effects of strong monsoon currents originating from the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, Karachi along with a few other cities of lower Sindh are expected to be less affected by the system, shared a senior official of the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Thursday.

The monsoon system, according to the department’s daily advisory, is likely to enter Sindh from the night of August 2 (today) and gradually spread over the rest of the province.

“As of today, it seems that the system won’t induce heavy to very heavy showers in Karachi, as we were earlier expecting, as it has lost its intensity a bit,” said Chief Meteorologist Dr Sardar Sarfaraz.

The chief secretary of Sindh, Syed Asif Hyder Shah, has issued directives to all divisional commissioners and Rescue 1122 personnel across the province to stay high alert in view of recent rains.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2024