Amraiz Khan
Second day of rain in the city on Saturday doubled the miseries of Lahorites which were not going away after Friday’s record rain when heavy downpour returned to the city in the wee hours.
Saturday’s heavy rain inundated several roads and spelled huge trouble for low-lying areas, with the city giving look of a deluge.
The water level which started to recede on Friday evening flooded back Saturday morning with Gulberg, Walton Road, Dharampura, Ghaziabad and other areas were inundated, increasing problems for motorists and residents.
The rain which continued by forenoon brought the lift to a halt in almost the whole city with traffic plying with snail’s pace and electricity down in most parts of the provincial capital.
The highest rainfall in Lahore on Friday was recorded at Lakshmi Chowk 167mm, which is the highest of the current monsoon season. In the inner city, 116mm of rain was recorded at Paniwala Talab and 55mm at Jail Road.
The heavy rains inundated different localities, including Johar Town, Paniwala Talab, Lakshmi Chowk, McLeod Road, Chaurburji, Islampura, Sandha, Krishannagar Bazar, Icchara, Monzang, Badami Bagh, Abid Market, Nisbat Road, Railway Station, Misri Shah, Wasimpura, Mughalpura, Johar Town and Do Muriah Pul.
The system of Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) also failed, resulting in electricity failure in various parts of the city due to the tripping of dozens of LESCO feeders. Many parts of the city were without power for many hours.
A large number of motorcyclists were found taking refuge under the overheads on the Ferozepur Road and Multan Road, and the underpasses on the Canal Road, and thus hindering the normal flow of traffic, which caused huge traffic chaos.
According to Met Department, rain with wind and thundershower is expected in Islamabad, Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, eastern Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. The fresh spell of monsoon rains that played havoc in big cities and also disrupted the flight operations of Lahore and Karachi internationals airports cancelling a number of domestic and international flights on Saturday.
Pakistan International Airline(PIA) cancelled Dubai-Lahore bilateral flights PK-203/204, to/from flights PK-884/883 from Dammam-Lahore, PIA flight PK-185 from Lahore to Sharjah will be delayed till 8:15 am.
As per Civi Aviation sources Turkish Air’s Istanbul-Lahore two-way flight 715/714 has been canceled while PIA Karachi-Lahore bilateral flight PK-313/312 has also been canceled. Qatar Airways also cancelled its Doha two-way flight 628/629 from Lahore.
An AirBlue flight 413 from Sharjah to Lahore has been delayed till 9 am and AirBlue flight 416 from Lahore to Dubai is delayed till 10 am. PIA flight PK-186 from Sharjah to Lahore has been delayed till 4 pm while flight PK-417 from Air Blue Dubai to Lahore was delayed till5.30 pm. Karachi International Airport, PIA flight PK-316 from Karachi to Lahore has been canceled.
