Half-hour downpour paralyses Hyderabad

Around half an hour long downpour inundated many parts of Hyderabad on Monday afternoon, with the downtown city and the low-lying areas particularly affected by the sewage-mixed rainwater approaching ankle to knee-deep levels. Residents and traders alike complained of water entering their places. The Pakistan Meteorological Department recorded up to 53 millimetres of rain which was preceded by a fleeting yet blinding dust storm.

At least one rain related death, caused by an incident of roof collapse in a shop of the Timber Market in City taluka, was reported in the city where dozens of trees and signboards were brought down by the stormy gusts. The police identified the deceased as Naek Muhammad who hailed from Moro town of Naushehro Feroze district. Nazim Chaang, Farzand Ali and Roshan Ali were injured in the same incident.

Power outages, as expected, instantly followed the showers with the Hyderabad Water and Sewerage Corporation (HWSC) and Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC) blaming Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO) for non-functioning of the drainage pumping stations.

The Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah took notice of flooding in parts of Hyderabad and he was also briefed by Mayor HMC Kashif Ali Shoro about the situation.

The mayor acknowledged that rainwater accumulated in several areas of Hyderabad. He informed the CM that HWSC's drainage pumping stations stopped functioning because of the power outages conducted by HESCO.

The CM gave instructions for swift drainage of rainwater from the roads, streets and neighbourhoods to restore normal life. Interestingly, while HESCO is being indirectly blamed for flooding of streets and neighbourhoods because the pumping stations could not work, a press statement issued by DC Hyderabad immediately after the rain had conveyed that the stations were directed to maintain 'abundant fuel supply' for electricity generators.

The citizens vented their anger on the authorities by posting videos of flooded roads and neighbourhoods on social media, questioning the government's claims of preparedness to meet the rain related challenges. They also questioned why even after spending hundreds of millions of rupees on the drainage infrastructure, the problem of choking and spilling out of sewage still existed.

Haider Chowk, Station Road, Thandi Sarak, Paretabad, Liaquat Colony, Teen Number Talab, Lohar Mohalla in City taluka as well as scores of localities in Latifabad and Qasimabad talukas went under ankle to knee deep water after the rain. Vehicles were seen stuck on roads as the city's main arterial roads became submerged with the motorists finding it too uphill to commute.

In a belated press statement, HESCO's spokesman Sadiq Kubar informed that collapse of 12 transmission towers disrupted power supply to the company's 18 grid stations, affecting over a hundred feeders.

In Hyderabad alone 152 electric feeders were shut down immediately after the rain. Around 100 of them were restored by the night but 52 were still not being supplied power because the fallen trees had damaged the transmission lines. He claimed that around 400 poles of 11 KV transmission cables fell in Hyderabad.