Widespread showers lash Sindh's southern, central districts

Rain submerged urban, semi-urban towns in Hyderabad and other districts in ankle deep water

HYDERABAD: Widespread showers lashed southern and central Sindh's districts with Tharparkar receiving over 34 millimetre (mm) rain and Hyderabad 24mm in a few hours starting Wednesday afternoon.

Light to moderate showers preceded the downpour on Tuesday evening. Rain broke the sultry weather which had gripped the region for almost two days.

However, it submerged many urban and semi-urban towns in Hyderabad, Sanghar, Tando Muhammad Khan, Badin, Thatta and other districts in ankle deep water.



Power breakdowns also coincided with the downpour in all the areas which received the rain complaining of the outages. The Hyderabad Electric Supply Company's (Hesco) spokesperson Sadiq Kubar claimed that only 12 feeders out of 80 in Hyderabad district have been shut for safety purposes.

"The situation is normal in overall Hesco region," he claimed, denying that all the districts where it rained have been subjected to the power supply disruption.



"Not a single of around a dozen helpline numbers given by Hesco are being attended so that we may be able to register a complaint or ask them to tell when the power supply would be restored," Rizwan Abbassi, a resident of Latifabad, bemoaned. The helpline numbers have been given for the citizens so that they may not only log their complaints but also inform the company about fallen electric wires or other related problems.

In Hyderabad district, many main roads including Thandi Sarak, Makki Shah Road, Haider Chowk, Qazi Qayum Road and Latiafbad Unit 2, among others, remained inundated.



Dozens of cattle markets in southern Sindh were adversely hit which have been set up under tents over low lying road side pieces of land. "The gusty winds have uprooted tents and the electric supply has also gone off," Abid Qureshi, a cattle dealer said.

In a message circulated by National Disaster Management Authority, the citizens have been warned of flash flood.Mirpurkhas, Sujawal, Jamshoro, Matiari, Nawabshah and Tando Allahyar districts also received downpour. The intermittent showers continued through the evening. The Pakistan Meteorological Department has forecast that rains will continue till Sep 1.

The district administrations and the local bodies enforced rain emergencies prior to the downpour.