Rain lashes most districts of Punjab

Next spell of monsoon downpour likely from Sunday

LAHORE:

At least three people died due to the collapse of dilapidated buildings in Rawalpindi and Gujrat as rain lashed most districts of Punjab on Friday.

Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) officials informed the Cabinet Committee on Disaster Management’s Chairman Khawaja Salman Rafique during a briefing that rain in the Sulaiman mountains may cause floods in the Dera Ghazi Khan region.

The PDMA has set up flood relief camps in view of the possible threat and the situation is being monitored through the provincial and district control rooms.

The authority requested the residents to take precautionary measures during the rainy season. The minister said the water situation in all the rivers, dams and barrages of Punjab was normal.

Light to moderate rain occurred in the provincial capital early in the morning and inundated low-lying areas, but also eased the humid conditions.

The rain begun at 2:40am and continued for more than three hours with varying intensity and occasional gaps.

Commuters faced difficulty on roads because of puddles.

Jail Road received 62.5mm of rainfall, Nishter Town 64mm, Chowk Nakhuda 61mm, Pani Wala Talab 89, Laxmi Chowk 95, Gulberg 65, airport 63, Upper Mall 50, Mughalpura 68, Samanabad 56, Johar Town 44, Gulshan-e-Ravi 78 and Farrukhabad 56mm.

The city district government remained active during and after the rain but could not clear most of the roads in Shahdara.

According to a spokesman for the Pakistan Meteorological Department, mainly hot and very humid weather is expected in most parts of the country during the next 24 hours. However, rain, windstorms and thundershowers are expected at isolated places in north-eastern and eastern Punjab.

During the past 24 hours, Mandi Bahauddin recorded 67m of rain, Gujrat 60, Sialkot Airport 23 and city 18, Kasur 20 and Sheikhupura 13.

With additional input from APP