KARACHI: Heavy rain battered the port city on Friday, leaving major roads flooded and causing power outages.
No loss of human life was immediately reported in the second rain spell of the season, however a wall of a building located in I.I. Chundrigar Road collapsed, damaging a number of cars parked nearby badly damaged.
The city received a maximum 63.5mm of rain at PAF Faisal Base, Saddar (41.0mm), Gulshan-i-Hadeed (40.0mm), Landhi (40.0mm), Karachi MOS (28.0mm), University Road (16.0mm), Jinnah Terminal (15.0mm), Nazimabad (9.0mm), Masroor Base (5.7mm) and North Karachi (traces).
In a twitter statement, K-Electric said that heavy rains and winds were “causing power disruption throughout the city”. It said some of its feeders were switched off for “safety reasons”. “Teams are working for swift restoration of power,” the power utility added.
In a statement, Sindh Minister for Local Government Nasir Hussain Shah said efforts were being made to bring the situation back to normal following the heavy rain and that drainage of rainwater was continuing due to a “comprehensive strategy”.
He said the administrations of all district were fully active while the process of cleaning storm drains was continuing uninterrupted.
According to Shah, pumping stations of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board were functioning non-stop and dewatering machines had been installed at major choking points.
Special attention was being paid to maintain the flow of traffic through underpasses, he said.
The Met department had forecast light to moderate widespread rain in Sindh on Friday, a day after several parts of Karachi received light rain in the evening.
On July 6, the first monsoon spell had hit Karachi and lasted for three days, wreaking havoc on the ill-maintained municipal infrastructure, disrupting electricity for hours and causing traffic jams on almost every major thoroughfare. At least seven people were killed in various rain-related incidents.
The weather system currently active is likely to persist for a shorter duration and move towards Oman soon.
