Nasir Butt

LAHORE:  First wide spread heavy rain here Saturday in Provincial capital washed out tall claims of tackling Moon Soon emergencies and completely inundated low-lying areas of the city.The inhabitants of low-lying areas in the city faced hard time due to rain, as sewerage water gushed into their homes destroying most of their properties.  The several feet of rainwater entered into houses created problems for the residents. Heavy rains caused traffic jam on different roads of the city.The heavy rain also badly affected the electricity and communication systems due to which the supply of electricity remained suspended for several hours in different localities. On the other hand the vehicular traffic on main roads and their arteries remained choked, while the air traffic at Allama Iqbal International Airport remained suspended due to heavy downpour for over three hours.The most affected downtown areas of the city included Misri Shah, Shahdara, Badami Bagh, Wasan Pura, Shad Bagh, Do Morya Pul, Lakshmi Chowk, Gowalmandi, Nisbat Road, Circular Road etc where people remained busy in clearing water from their houses.The key roads, which remained blocked for all kinds of traffic included Mall Road, Lower Mall,G T Road, Multan Road, Circular Road, Ferozpur Road and Canal road where  accumulated rain water jocked traffic at all under passes and long queues of vehicles stuck up even after Iftar time.The heavy rain also badly exposed the alleged height of negligence of WASA due to which all the main city roads and all the surrounding congested residential, industrial and commercial areas were inundated with the rainy and sewerage water.Several citizens while talking with this scribe said that the roads, especially in residential areas, were submerged in rain water for a couple of hours in torrential rains, as there were no alternative drains to carry the water to WASA's main drains. The only option left with the WASA to clear rain water was through its sewer lines, which were unable to accommodate heavy flow of rain water, they said.On the other hand, the weather turned pleasant after city received heavy rain with thunderstorm. The monsoon spell that started from twin cities, hit Lahore on Saturday afternoon. The load shedding stricken masses got relief as the weather turned pleasant after the rain.People came out on the streets to enjoy the weather.The Met Office has forecast more showers in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Kashmir. The forecast of metrological departments said that more rainfall is expected in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Kashmir and upper and lower parts of KP during the next 24 hours.