The weather turned pleasant and brought the rising mercury level down as rain lashed several cities in Punjab and Balochistan on Wednesday. However, heavy rain coupled with snow and landslides also brought miseries for the people living in upper areas of country. The downpour hit Lahore, Gujranwala and many other cities in Punjab and turned the weather pleasant in plain areas which were earlier sizzling with heat.
However, torrential rains and hail that barreled the upper mountainous areas of district Pishin triggered flood-like situation in its streams and nullahs. A landslide near Torkham border caused by heavy rains and lightening buried more than 40 containers and trailers in which at least 6 people have died and rescue work is underway to remove debris to pull out people buried in the mud.
Rain pounded Chilas and its suburban areas, whereas Upper Chilas received light snow. In Neelum valley, rain and snow have been falling on the mountains since last evening. During last 24 hours, torrential rain hit several areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Swat, Kalam, Dir, Balakot, Chitral, Malam Jabba, Kakool, Dera Ismail Khan, Peshawar and Bannu.
Due to flood in River Swat, the Bahrain Bridge was totally submerged, closing the road link between Bahrain and Kalam. The Old Bahrain Market has been flooded with 2-3 feet water. The Pakistani Army teams with the help of civil administration are busy in providing rescue services to people stranded in the areas hit by rains and landslides.
The affected areas have been emptied and people have been evacuated to safer places. The Pak Army troops and officials of National Highway Authority are removing debris from areas hit by landslides. In Gilgit-Baltistan, the heavy downpour lashed Astor, Chilas, Gilgit and Skardu.
Heavy rains pounded Balochistan areas including Zhob, Barkhan, Chaman and Khuzdar. In Azad Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Garhi Dupatta, Kotli; and in Sindh, Sukkur, Larkana, Jacobabad, Moenjo Daro, Dadu and Rohri were lashed by rain. In Ghazar, rain hit the plain areas while snow has been falling for the last several hours on the mountains of Ghazar.
The Ashkomann Road could not be restored so far as authorities closed Dok Bridge when an avalanche hit it. According to the Pakistan Metrological Department, following is the highest rainfall (mm) recorded in different cities: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Kalam 64, Patan 45, Dir (Upper 51, Lower 15).—INP
