Monsoon warning

The Met office warning that the monsoon season in the country is expected to continue till September 30 is no lesser than a bomb shell for Karachiites who have still to come to terms with the havoc that the recent rains has played with them. Weathermen say that the rainfall system in the Arabian Sea and in Indian Gujarat has caused the sea breeze to stop in Karachi which is likely to result in more rains with thunderstorms on Tuesday i.e. today. They have also warned of another strong downpour system to reach the city in the next three to four days.

While rains are almost always welcome, Karachi — the biggest city of the country — is not to fit enough to deal with even sporadic downpour, let alone a heavy cloudburst. Small rains are known to have caused big disturbance in this megalopolis. The July 30^th rain is a case in point. That day only about 70 millimetres of rain had proved to be enough to inundate Karachi. Even though it had only poured — and never actually rained — it wreaked havoc with the whole municipal infrastructure of the country’s most modern city and turned everything topsy-turvy. Roads and streets looked like rivers; most of the localities went out of power supply for hours and hours; traffic jams at thoroughfares ensured extremely thin attendance at workplaces and education centres; businesses remained shut; flights got cancelled; and above all, several previous lives were lost in the city due to rain-related incidents, mainly electrocution.

The recent warning by the Met office must not fall on the deaf ears, and the authorities must immediately move to impose rain emergency across the city lest the blessings of rains should turn into miseries. Instead of struggling during the rain, the authorities must prepare themselves for the rainy day beforehand.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2019.

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