Residents of the twin cities woke up to a rude surprise as they found their homes and cars covered in a layer of dust. The dust storms that hit the twin cities on Monday night created stressful conditions for vehicular traffic and people with breathing problems, as the weather pattern, a rarity in the Islamabad area, travelled from Sindh to Punjab and covered much of the country. The pattern is likely to last for another day, The Express Tribune has learnt.
Pakistan Metrological Department Director General Arif Mehmood said that the storm had initially started in the Middle East and had travelled to Pakistan. “The storm hit Pakistan in the coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan on Monday evening before travelling north,” he said.
The increase in dust particles in the air has caused visibility problems for flights as well as health issues for the people of Islamabad. Visibility in Karachi was less than 100 metres and the Civil Aviation Authority had to stop flights. However the situation normalised after four hours. Samar Hussain, who was travelling from Karachi to Islamabad, had to wait for over half-a-day to make what is normally a two-hour journey. “The runways were closed, my flight from Karachi was delayed by nine hours, then on our way to Islamabad the flight was diverted to Lahore, where we had to wait for hours until the weather cleared,” she said.
Mehmood said that with the passage of time, visibility is improving and is likely to get better in the next two days, while adding that rainfall is expected in the upper parts of Pakistan.
The weather is going from bad to worse for asthma and allergy patients, as Mehmood said the pollen count will rise as soon as the weather clears.
Dr Asadullah Nemati, a senior chest physician at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), said that humid, dry weather is alarming for such patients as particles suspended in the air cause irritation. He said that in such weather, patients would be well advised to keep inhalers and masks handy whenever they leave home. He noted that there has been a marked increase in the number of asthmatics coming to the hospital in the past two days.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 21st, 2012.
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