Heavy showers disrupt power supply in twin cities

Several trees uprooted, several areas in Rawalpindi inundated

RAWALPINDI/ ISLAMABAD:  

Weather in Islamabad and Rawalpindi turned pleasant following heavy showers coupled with gusty winds on Tuesday.

Intermittent rain with thunderstorms on along with fast winds also disrupted the power supply to the twin cities.  The storm also uprooted several trees at different locations in both the cities.

Rain with gusty winds started early morning dipping the mercury proving to be a blessing in disguise for the people of Rawalpindi where the temperature, as high as 35 degrees Celsius on Monday, falling to just 17 by evening.

But the showers, however, forced the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) to declare a rain emergency in Rawalpindi.

According to WASA spokesperson Umer Farooq, the agency put its field staff on high alert and moved machines to low-lying areas to meet any emergency due to flooding.

However, he noted that the rain did not cause any problems for the sanitation agency. Further, he said that the water level in Nullah Leh rose by only two to three feet.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Metrological Department (PMD) recorded three millimetres of rainfall in the garrison city till 7 pm on Tuesday. In Islamabad, the PMD had recorded 15mm of rain. The PMD has predicted more rains over the next 48 hours  During next 48 hours, some more rains with thunderstorm are expected.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 5^th, 2017.