Several landmarks, electricity poles and buildings were destroyed during a windstorm in Multan on Tuesday.
Local government officials have received reports of over a dozen people being severely injured and extensive damages to property in the district. Seven transformers exploded in the area and caused three houses to catch fire. “Three days ago, the wind and lightning killed more than 40 people in Punjab and this recent storm has caused more destruction,” said tehsil municipal administrator (TMA) Raja Sajjad.
“We are still working to recover the losses in terms of destroyed equipment and road blocks from the previous storm.
Now several homes have been destroyed,” he said. Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) officials are currently involved in the repair and rehabilitation of the electricity network in many areas of southern Punjab. “Over three dozen electricity poles have collapsed and several areas in the province have been without electricity for three days.
Today’s storm has only worsened the situation and there is a great fear that people might be electrocuted because of open wires,” said Mepco official Naveed Khalid.
Tuesday’s hail once again destroyed over a dozen houses, several orchards, crops and roads. Police officials have stated that so far five deaths have been reported in Multan after being struck by lightning.
Farmers in the area said that a large portion of their crops had been destroyed by the hailstorm and that they might not be able to meet their targets.
On the other hand, the Punjab government has claimed that 70 per cent of its wheat target has already been achieved and the storm will not cause much damage in this regard. Many sign boards have fallen in the area and telecommunication is down. “It is absurd that the entire city should collapse after a couple of storms. This proves that poor construction materials have been used for many buildings,” said business owner Rehman Kashif.
Temperatures in Multan have dropped to 25 degrees from 43 degree in the last two days. The agricultural sector has been hit the hardest by the storm.
In last four days lightning has burnt more than 70 houses in different rural areas in southern Punjab especially in Shujabad, Layyah and Rajanpur.
Flights and trains have been cancelled due to the weather and regular schedules are expected to resume on Friday, according to the MET department.
Mepco spokesperson Jamshaid Khan said that the department was employing all its resources in trying to re-establish the electricity network in the region. “We have even cancelled the vacations of the staff in the areas where electricity poles have collapsed from the storm,” he said.
Electricity remains suspended in many areas of Muzafargarh, Shahjamal, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalnagar, Bhakkar and Vehari. The district administrations of all 13 districts in southern Punjab have been working round-the-clock for rehabilitation. Emergency teams and Rescue officials are on high alert.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 25th, 2011.
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