Hyderabad gets 130mm of rain

After a pause of many years the first spell of the monsoon showers has continued in Hyderabad for six consecutive days till Saturday with the meteorological department recording between 110 to 130 millimeter rain combined in different areas. The intermittent downpour's intensity varied between heavy to low.

It rained most of the time during these days. Although the rains led to a drop in soaring mercury and turned the weather pleasant, the long hours of load shedding and sewage mixed rainwater swamping the roads and streets made life difficult for the citizens.

Almost all the shopping markets had their roadsides covered in muddy rainwater, forcing the shoppers to wade through that dirty water. The conditions at the cattle markets in Latifabad, City and Rural areas as well as dozens of unauthorized markets were particularly bad.

"We are charged for the spaces at the market but no drainage system is put in place to prevent quicksand caused inconvenience to us and the buyers," said Hashim, a seller of sacrificial animals.

The district administration and the Water and Sanitation Agency claimed that despite the power outages, they ensured that all the drainage pumping stations worked round the clock.

The deputy commissioner, the assistant commissioners, mukhtiarkars and the officials of WASA oversaw the entire exercise through the last six days.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2022.