Four drown amid heavy downpour in Pindi

Body found, search for remaining victims resumes today

RAWALPINDI:

At least four persons drowned in different rain-related incidents in Rawalpindi on Monday, with rescuers finding the body of a 45-year-old woman.

Three others including a toddler were presumed dead with rescuers to resume the search for their bodies on Tuesday (today).

According to Rescue 1122, the first incident of drowning was reported from Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, where two teenagers on a motorcycle fell into the drain along with their vehicle. Local people rescued one of them while the other body remained.

In the second incident, reported at Chakra Road in Razzak Town, a 45-year-old woman slipped into a rainwater drain. The body of Rafat Kamal with the help of area residents, said locals.

The third incident took place on Boring Road, where a two-and-a-half-year-old girl went missing after falling into Nullah Leh. According to the area residents, the child was playing on the bank of the nullah when she slipped and fell into the water.

The fourth incident was reported from Chakri Road where a 10-year-old, Muhammad Zada, drowned in the rain drain. The search operation to rescue him or recover his body failed to yield any results.

Rescuer workers said that the operation could find the remaining three bodies could not be continued at night and would resume in the morning.

Rising water level

Meanwhile, teams of the Rawalpindi Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) were deployed at various low-lying areas along Nullah Leh for water suction after heavy rainfall in the twin cities on Monday.

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), a maximum of 68 mm of rain was reported during the downpour that continued for around 90 minutes.

Meanwhile, the water level in Nullah Leh rose by several feet resulting in the issuance of a pre-alert warning. By the end of the day, the water level had come back down to around seven feet at Gawalmandi, having gone as high as 12 feet. At Katarian, the water level also came down after going as high as 11.5 feet.

The department said 37 mm of rain was recorded in Golra, 45 mm in Bokara, 44 mm in PMD, 62 mm in Shamsabad and 63 mm in Chaklala.

In the garrison city, rainwater accumulated in low-lying residential areas and on roads and intersections.

The underpasses at Committee Chowk, Liaquat Bagh and Murree Road were affected. Several key arteries including parts of the Liaquat Road and Jama Masjid Road were also submerged in water, greatly affecting traffic flow.

WASA Managing Director Mohammad Tanveer said that its team was busy removing water from the low-lying areas affected by rain.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2023.