Rawalpindi knee-deep in water
Heavy downpour mars Independence Day celebrations in twin cities.
A portion of a house’s roof in G-7/3 caved in after the capital was hammered with continuous rain on Wednesday. PHOTO: SEHRISH WASIF/EXPRESS
RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD:
Independence Day celebrations were scuttled by heavy rains as residents of many low-laying areas in Rawalpindi grappled with draining out the rainwater that has been accumulating in their houses during the torrential two-day downpour.
Furniture and electronic equipment in almost all inundated houses were damaged as heavy rains scuttled the efforts of the residents who attempted to move them to safe places soon after red alerts were issued by the authorities.
“The water level reached almost seven feet in this area and submerged my house, forcing us to take shelter on the second floor,” said Iftikhar Anjum, 45, a resident of Arya Mohallah who spent his Independence Day draining out rainwater from his house.
The intermittent downpour that started on Sunday night lashed the twin cities till Wednesday noon, which also marred the Independence Day activities of the residents, who preferred to stay indoors. After the water level started subsiding, many families that had moved to safer places because of the warnings returned to their houses to drain the rainwater.
Many localities including Javed Colony, Nadeem Colony, Arya Mohala, Muslim Colony and Dhoke Elahi Bux were submerged by the rainwater.
Rawal Road, Murree Road, Airport Road, Saddar, Committee Chowk underpass, Pirwadhai Mor underpass, several parts of Adiala Road and Jorian Road were also flooded.
According to the Met Department, 99 millimetres (mm) of rain was recorded in Rawalpindi, 89 mm in Islamabad, 80 mm in Saidpur, 49 mm in RAMC, 43 mm in Chaklala and 3 mm in Bokra during the last 24 hours. The water flow in Nullah Leh near New Katarian surged to 10 feet while 9.2 feet was recorded at Gawalmandi. Rescue 1122 teams had been deputed to monitor the situation along Nullah Leh. “The water level has subsided but we are still on alert,” a Rescue 1122 official told The Express Tribune.
Meanwhile, the roof of a house in Government Quarters, G-7/4 caved-in, but no injuries were reported.
“At around 9 am, while we all were sleeping, suddenly a thumping sound awoke us. First we thought it was an earthquake, but later it transpired that the roof of our drawing room had collapsed due to the driving rain,” said Israrul Haq, the owner of the quarter, who is an employee of in the ministry of information and broadcasting. Haq said that he had been living there for the last 45 years. “The police turned up at around 4pm and went away after investigating the incident.”
Traffic mess
At around 1:30 pm, a massive traffic jam was witnessed near Lake View Park, as traffic wardens were nowhere to be seen from Athal Chowk to Club Road. Commuters were seen controlling traffic themselves and some of them removed the concrete blocks that had been placed on roads as temporary lane dividers.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad Highway, Ninth Avenue, Margalla Road and Khayaban-e-Suhrawardy remained flooded with rainwater and motorists had to struggle to make their way to their destination.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 15th, 2013.
Independence Day celebrations were scuttled by heavy rains as residents of many low-laying areas in Rawalpindi grappled with draining out the rainwater that has been accumulating in their houses during the torrential two-day downpour.
Furniture and electronic equipment in almost all inundated houses were damaged as heavy rains scuttled the efforts of the residents who attempted to move them to safe places soon after red alerts were issued by the authorities.
“The water level reached almost seven feet in this area and submerged my house, forcing us to take shelter on the second floor,” said Iftikhar Anjum, 45, a resident of Arya Mohallah who spent his Independence Day draining out rainwater from his house.
The intermittent downpour that started on Sunday night lashed the twin cities till Wednesday noon, which also marred the Independence Day activities of the residents, who preferred to stay indoors. After the water level started subsiding, many families that had moved to safer places because of the warnings returned to their houses to drain the rainwater.
Many localities including Javed Colony, Nadeem Colony, Arya Mohala, Muslim Colony and Dhoke Elahi Bux were submerged by the rainwater.
Rawal Road, Murree Road, Airport Road, Saddar, Committee Chowk underpass, Pirwadhai Mor underpass, several parts of Adiala Road and Jorian Road were also flooded.
According to the Met Department, 99 millimetres (mm) of rain was recorded in Rawalpindi, 89 mm in Islamabad, 80 mm in Saidpur, 49 mm in RAMC, 43 mm in Chaklala and 3 mm in Bokra during the last 24 hours. The water flow in Nullah Leh near New Katarian surged to 10 feet while 9.2 feet was recorded at Gawalmandi. Rescue 1122 teams had been deputed to monitor the situation along Nullah Leh. “The water level has subsided but we are still on alert,” a Rescue 1122 official told The Express Tribune.
Meanwhile, the roof of a house in Government Quarters, G-7/4 caved-in, but no injuries were reported.
“At around 9 am, while we all were sleeping, suddenly a thumping sound awoke us. First we thought it was an earthquake, but later it transpired that the roof of our drawing room had collapsed due to the driving rain,” said Israrul Haq, the owner of the quarter, who is an employee of in the ministry of information and broadcasting. Haq said that he had been living there for the last 45 years. “The police turned up at around 4pm and went away after investigating the incident.”
Traffic mess
At around 1:30 pm, a massive traffic jam was witnessed near Lake View Park, as traffic wardens were nowhere to be seen from Athal Chowk to Club Road. Commuters were seen controlling traffic themselves and some of them removed the concrete blocks that had been placed on roads as temporary lane dividers.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad Highway, Ninth Avenue, Margalla Road and Khayaban-e-Suhrawardy remained flooded with rainwater and motorists had to struggle to make their way to their destination.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 15th, 2013.