More widespread rains in five days likely

The entire country is likely to receive more widespread rains in the next five days as the Met Office on Wednesday warned about flash flooding in Karachi and other main cities. It also warned that the Arabian Sea was likely to remain rough to very rough along Sindh-Makran Coast from Thursday to Monday with heavy rains in lower Sindh. It advised the fishermen to be careful about the sea conditions till July 27.
It asked the concerned authorities to remain alert and take precautionary measures to avoid destruction since the monsoon was passing through its active phase across the country. Pakistan Navy has also put its rescue teams on a high alert keeping in view the expected floods in southern parts of the country. The office evolved a fresh analysis from meteorological and hydrological conditions that suggested that an active monsoon weather system was likely to affect Sindh with fairly widespread thunderstorm/rain of moderate intensity with heavy falls at isolated places and very heavy falls at some places in the next four to five days.
It repeated its warning about the urban flooding across the country including Karachi during the forecast period, saying that scattered thunderstorm of a moderate intensity with isolated heavy falls was also expected in Balochistan especially in its north-east central and coastal parts.
It said that widespread rain/thundershower with scattered heavy to very heavy falls in Karachi, Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas divisions and other parts of Sindh is likely till Monday. The heavy falls may trigger flooding in Karachi, Hyderabad and other major cities of the province.
Scattered rain/thundershower with isolated heavy falls in Zhob, Sibbi, Nasirabad, Kalat and Makran divisions and other parts of Balochistan is forecast till Monday, which may cause flash flooding in the local rivers and streams. The office has advised for precautionary steps. For Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, scattered rain/thundershowers with isolated heavy falls are forecast through Monday. Heavy falls are feared to generate flash flooding in local rivers and streams across the province in their wake, besides heavy rains may cause landslides in Malakand and Hazara divisions.
In Punjab, scattered rain/thundershowers with isolated heavy falls in Gujranwala, Lahore, Rawalpindi, D G Khan and Bahawalpur divisions are expected till Monday. Heavy falls may generate flash flooding in the hill torrents of D G Khan division and in the local streams of Rawalpindi and Gujranwala divisions.
Kashmir is expected to receive scattered rain/thundershowers with isolated heavy falls till Monday. The heavy falls may trigger landslides in the vulnerable areas. Similarly, Gilgit-Baltistan was forecast with scattered rain/thundershowers during the period.
"Well mark seasonal low lies over central Balochistan and its adjoining areas with its trough extending south-eastward. Monsoon currents are continuously penetrating into upper and south eastern parts of the country and likely to continue during the current week," the office said.
In the next 24 hours, it said that more rain-thundershower was expected at scattered places in Kashmir, Malakand, Hazara, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sahiwal, Bahwalpur, Sibbi, Nasirabad, Kalat and Makran divisions and at the isolated places in Quetta, Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat, DG khan, Sarghodha and Faisalabad divisions, FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Mandibahauddin received 73 mm of rain in the last 24 hours followed by Dipplo 72 mm, Lahore City 61 mm, Mangla 48 mm, Chhor 47 mm, Mithi 42 mm, Murree 40 mm, Chahchro 32 mm, Islamkot, Nagrparkar 29 mm, T T Singh 23 mm, Kotli 22 mm, Jhelum, Balakot, Chakwal, Sialkot Cantt 17 mm each, Joharabad 15 mm, Kalam, Rawalpindi (Chaklala 12 mm, Shamsabad 7 mm) and Skardu 10 mm.
Karachi received its first spell of monsoon rains with Landhi 12 mm, Masroor 8 mm, Shahrah-e-Faisal 5 mm, North Karachi 4.6 mm, Nazimabad 4.2 mm, Saddar 4 mm, Gulshan-e-Hadeed 2.4 mm, Airport 2 mm. Weather in the metropolis is expected to remain cloudy with thunderstorm with a few moderate to heavy falls. Temperature may soar to maximum 31 degrees Celsius with maximum 75 percent humidity.
The rain however resurrected polluted mud from the roads surfaces in the city that scalded down vehicular traffic and pedestrian movements besides creating problems for the people. Consumers again failed to escape power breakdowns in the stormy weather with rainwater accumulated on broken roads and uneven streets with spewing gutters.
Citizens anticipate more suffering with coming rains in the city and hope the provincial and city authorities would not sit on the fence during the monsoon and help the public in difficult hours with clean roads and uninterrupted power supply.