Rain brings pain: 12 students injured after school wall collapses

Rain inundates low-lying areas of Rawalpindi; Railway Reservation Office flooded.

RAWALPINDI:

At least a dozen students of Government Girls Primary School Tahli Mohri in Raja Akram Colony were injured when a wall on the roof of the school collapsed due to heavy rain on Wednesday.

More than 300 students were present in the rented building at the time the wall collapsed.

“After rainwater began entering the building and the classrooms, we shifted the students to the first floor,” said Faiza, a teacher, adding that after seeing an increase in the rainfall, they decided to send the children home.

She said as they came downstairs, a wall on the rooftop collapsed, injuring 12 children.

“The children were rescued with the help of local residents…thankfully, no loss of life took place,” she said. It took Rescue1122 almost two hours to get to the school and shift the injured children to District Headquarters Hospital.

Meanwhile, A two-room house in Shalley Valley also collapsed. However, no one was injured.



Rainwater also inundated low-lying areas in various parts of the city, including the Railway Reservation Office. Talking to The Express Tribune, Divisional Officer Usman Anwar said the water also destroyed some office records.

“Despite repeated calls, Rescue 1122 has yet to show up,” he said. He added they have set up a makeshift reservation desk to facilitate the people.

Rainwater also inundated Railway Colony, where around 1.5 metres of water accumulated, forcing residents of the colony to shift to safer places.



“There is a metre of water in my house. All the furniture and electronic equipment has been destroyed,” said Muhammad Arif, a resident of the colony.

Low-lying areas such as Gawalmandi, Rahimabad and Katchi Abadi in Lane III were also inundated. The flooding was mostly avoidable, as locals blamed clogged drains for the situation they were in.

Rainfall in twin cities raised the water level in Nullah Leh at New Katarian by 13 feet. According to the met office, 29.1 mm rainfall was recorded at 11:40 am in Rawalpindi.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2013.