Sigh of relief: Rain turns weather pleasant in twin cities

Families throng picnic spots to enjoy the pleasant weather

ISLAMABAD: Residents of the twin cities enjoyed a pleasant Sunday, with several parts of Rawalpindi and Islamabad receiving rain early in the day.

Scattered rainfall for past 24 hours brought both the day and night temperature down, and provided a sigh of relief to the citizens.

The cities remained cloudy throughout the day.

An official of the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said that the federal capital received 58 millimetres of rain, while four millimetres was recorded at the Islamabad airport.

He elaborated that observatories were located at different areas and readings suggested the quantity of rain. With frequent intervals, the official predicted, the rain would continue till August 10th.

Weather outlook for the next 48 hours also suggested that the rain-thunderstorm with isolated heavy falls is expected at scattered places of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

After rainfall, cool breeze made the weather pleasant and residents of twin cities came out to enjoy some time in parks and picnic spots.

A large number of picnickers, mostly families and young people, were seen at different parks and popular spots including Rawal Lake, Shakarparian, Saidpur village, Monal, Daman-e-Koh, Shahdra, and Rose and Jasmine Garden.

Schoolchildren were specially seen enjoying the rain.

Experts, however, have advised the citizens to take precautionary measures during the ongoing monsoon season in order to avoid health complications.

The experts said that people who were more vulnerable to seasonal diseases such as diarrhoea, food poisoning, allergies, digestive imbalances, respiratory track problems and infections should take special care as even small negligence could land them in trouble.

“With the start of monsoon season, people need to take special measures to avoid health complications,” Dr Waseem Khawaja of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) said.

Dr Khawaja said that people usually faced sore throat, frequent sneezing and fever during the monsoon season.

He advised eating home cooked food and drinking plenty of water to avoid different problems.

An official of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) urged citizens to be careful, adopt precautionary measures and stay away from electric poles, signboards and trees during rain or storm.

He asked people not to touch bare wires, avoid usage of electrical home appliances with faulty and cracked electrical wires.

Apart from the Islamabad City area, 11 millimetres of rain was recorded in Golra, three millimetres in Bokra and Saidpur each, 32 millimetres in Shamasabad and four millimetres in Chaklala.

Though the weather turned pleasant but the water level in the Korang and Soan rivers has also increased.

The district administration has already issued flood warnings in the areas located near Korang and Soan rivers.

The banners displayed outside mosques carry a message for the residents of the areas to take precautionary measure owing to the expected floods. Despite issuing flood warning, the broken banks of the nullah have yet to be repaired.

People of the area fear loss of life and property as the monsoon season has started and the administration has only issued warning instead of providing relief to the residents.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2016.