Downpour in Karachi clogs traffic, inundates streets

Many parts of city plunge into darkness as 92 of K-Electric’s feeders trip. Most arteries face gridlocks

KARACHI: As forecasted, Karachi received its share of monsoon rain on Thursday evening, turning the weather pleasant in the city, Express News reported. However, the rain also saw massive traffic gridlocks on various arteries.

The weather turned quite pleasant in the port city as a number of areas including North Karachi, New Karachi, Buffer Zone, Surjani Town, Defence, Clifton and Korangi received the much-awaited rainfall.

However, the respite proved to be only temporary, as soon after the downpour started many parts of city plunged into darkness as 92 of K-Electric’s feeders tripped.

Lightning over Karachi during the rains. PHOTO: JALAL QURESHI/ EXPRESS

 

Read: Parts of Karachi plunge into darkness as city receives first monsoon rain

Due to #Rain-fall 92 out of 1450 feeders have tripped. Teams are working for normalisation. pic.twitter.com/DT6MNtfwxg

— KE (@KElectricPk) July 23, 2015

After rain, traffic was also jammed in many parts of the city, making it difficult for commuters, especially people returning from offices, to reach their destinations.

Thousands of cars were stranded in massive traffic jams on multiple arteries of Karachi following heavy downpour in the city on Thursday, Express News reported.

Rain inundated Karachi's streets. PHOTO: MOHAMMAD AZEEM/ EXPRESS

 

Just cover hardly 4 km in last 2.5 hours. Where is DIG Traffic. #TrafficJam in #Karachi

— Naveed Qamar (@KNaveedQamar) June 16, 2015

The Korangi Expressway road heading to to Baloch Colony and then on to the Tipu Sultan intersection was jam packed with vehicles standing bumper to bumper.

Further, vehicles Sir Shah Muhammad Suleman road, heading from National Stadium to Essa Nagri via Hasan Square and leading towards North Nazimabad saw heavy traffic jams.

Many arteries in Karachi are inundated by rain water causing massive traffic jams. PHOTO: IRFAN ALI/ EXPRESS

Got home safely without any inconvenience. #twitter literally saved us, read where the #trafficjam was and took a different route. #Karachi

— Farah Batool (@batool_farah) July 23, 2015

Poor drainage meant roads were quickly inundated with rainwater, causing many vehicles to shut down.


Meanwhile, officials of the Karachi Traffic Police, where they were seen, appeared out of their depth to adequately manage the traffic imbrogilio. They requested those stranded to call on the traffic helpline, 1915, in case their vehicles broke down.

K-Electric tweeted about the safety precautions to be taken during the rainfall.

As the monsoon showers begin, remember these important points. Beware; Be Aware! pic.twitter.com/FzElbydZoo

— KE (@KElectricPk) July 23, 2015

At least five people also died in rain related incidents in the city today. One person died of electrocution in Malir, while two others died at Pankha Hotel in Sher Shah. One each died in Orangi Town and Chota Maidan in Nazimabad.

This radar image of Karachi shows rain clouds over the city. PHOTO: Pakistan Meteorological Department

According to the MET department, more rains are expected across Sindh.

Later in the evening, Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwar Sial and Minister Nasir Shah visited different parts of the city to review drainage work and the traffic situation.

Sial directed DIG Traffic to resolve the gridlocks in the city on priority basis.