Citizens of Rawalpindi and Islamabad have taken a sigh of relief from consistent hot temperatures after heavy rains occurred yesterday in twin cities.
The rains followed by thunderstorms and lighting at night and in the early hours of today have dropped the temperatures of twin cities to a considerably low degree. However, it should be noted that the surrounding areas like Taxila and Wah Cantt have also seen the same weather trends like that of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
According to Pakistan Meteorological Department, around 120 millimeters of rain has been recorded and more rain is expected today with heavy hailing and thunderstorms. Also, about 40 electricity feeders have been tripped that has caused widespread outage of electricity across the twin cities. Moreover, the roads have also seen intense flooding and the uprooting of trees and this has caused disturbances in traffic for the general public of twin cities.
The meteorological department has also predicted heavy rains for Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, some parts of Punjab, the Potohar region, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan that will last from September 27 till October 1. It should be noted that Pakistan Meteorological Department has also put the local agencies including the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) on high alert and has also advised the citizens to take precautionary measures during the season.
The Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has also issued an advisory alert for the heavy rains that followed from August 14 till August 18. Regarding this, the PDMA spokesperson stated, “Thunderstorms and heavy showers are particularly anticipated in South Punjab from August 15 to 18, with significant rainfall expected across Lahore, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, and Gujrat.”
The same advisory alert has also been issued for the recent rains as well as the DG PDMA has directed all the relevant authorities to stay on high alert and take precautionary measures in order to mitigate the effects of urban flooding (if any). It should be noted that the province’s chief minister has issued the directives to all the concerned authorities.
The departments under consideration who will remain on high alert for this rainy season include all the concerned commissioners, deputy commissioners, Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), the Irrigation Department and the Rescue departments as well.
On the positive side, all these rains and the upcoming cloudy weather has relieved the public of soaring high temperatures and give them assurance of the approaching winter season.
