KARACHI: Winter showers lash Karachi
The weather also turned chillier. Consequently, few vehicles were seen on the roads and attendance in educational institutions, offices and factories was also thin.
The meteorological department, whose prediction for Tuesday proved correct, recorded an average of nine millimetres of rain in the city. The mercury fell by three degrees centigrade than its reading on Monday. The Met office predicted cloudy weather with chances of rain for Wednesday.
The weather system that triggered the rains had started to weaken and would move eastwards to the Indian states of Rajasthan and Gujarat by Thursday, said an official of the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
Fewer people went to their workplaces in the morning fearing that there might be more rain during the day and they would get stranded as the bulk of public transport went off the roads as soon as the rain began falling. The air and rail traffic, however, remained unaffected by the weather conditions.
Attendance in government offices and educational institutions also remained below the normal. Though markets did open partially, they attracted fewer customers.
The fragile Karachi Electricity Supply Corporation system was hit in the morning, but the normal supply was restored by the afternoon.
Different low-lying areas and some of the roads were inundated when the early morning showers hit almost the whole city.
According to the Met office, New Karachi (with 9.8 millimetres) received the heaviest rainfall of the day.
Rainfall in other areas was: PAF Base Masroor, 5mm; PAF Base Faisal, 5mm; Met observatory at Karachi Airport, 8mm; and Model observatory on University Road, 4.2mm.
The minimum temperature recorded in the city on Tuesday was 16.5 degrees Celsius and the maximum was 20 degrees Celsius. The humidity in the air was 77 per cent. The weather, according to the Met office, is expected to remain cloudy with chances of rain on Wednesday. The minimum temperature would range from 14 to 16 degrees Celsius.
About 100 of the more than 1,100 feeders of the KESC tripped during the rain. However, the utility’s spokesperson said they were fixed by the afternoon.
He said the power demand for the city was around 1,700 megawatts whereas about 1,500 megawatts was available and the city faced a shortage of between 100 megawatts and 200 megawatts owing to which around one-hour-long load-shedding was being carried out during the peak hours – 6pm to 11pm – on a rotational basis. The shortage was caused by the 100MW to 200MW less electricity being supplied by Wapda, he added.
The air traffic did not suffer due to the rain as, according to the airport authorities, all the flights arrived in and left the city as scheduled.
The train service, which is yet to become normal after the damage caused by the countrywide turmoil following former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, was not affected by the rain.
The railways authorities said the train service was limping back to normality as 14 trains arrived in and 14 left the city on Tuesday. Normally 26 trains arrive and 26 leave the city daily. All the trains coming from the upcountry are arriving 4 to 5 hours behind schedule owing to the damage of the communication system between Karachi and Rohri. The trains were, however, leaving according to schedule, the authorities added.