City welcomes rain as it helps residents beat the heat

Met dept expects more rainfall in the next 24-hours.

KARACHI: The temperature in Karachi went down a couple of degrees due to light rainfall on Monday afternoon.

According to meteorological department the weather will remain partly cloudy. While talking to The Express Tribune, an official from the Met office said that they were expecting a thunderstorm in the next 24-hours.

He said that the maximum rain was reported near Jinnah International Airport and its adjoining area. He added that the temperature will remain between 33 to 35 degrees Celsius. Before the rain, it was predicted that the minimum temperature for the day would be 34 degrees Celsius while the maximum would be 39 degrees Celsius with humidity at 52.

Areas, including Pehlwan Goth, Landhi, University Road, Saddar, received less than 3 millimetres of rainfall.

The rain caused traffic jams on University Road, near the airport and around Sharae Faisal. A large number of vehicles stood still on MA Jinnah Road, Guru Mandir and Gul Bahar as the citiy’s traffic arteries were clogged during rush hour.

The Met office official said that the wet weather will continue till Tuesday afternoon. He added that most of the rainwater was cleared within an hour by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and staff from other cantonment boards.

Several residents wanted to go to the beach, which has been prohibited for a month after 35 people drowned at sea after Eid.

“We just want to dip our feet in the water but the administration isn’t letting us do it,” said Ahmed, a young man who wanted to go to the beach. “As soon as the sky got cloudy we got on our motorcycle and decided we would go to the beach but no one is letting us.”

Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui told The Express Tribune that people can enjoy themselves and the weather but under no circumstances would they be allowed to go into the sea. He said that this was being done to keep people safe. He added that they had deployed an extra contingent of law enforcers to stop beach goers from going into the water.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2014.