Allah Almighty has been very kind to Pakistanis as the much-needed rains, and snowfall over the hills, were witnessed in most parts of the country since Saturday evening.
Agriculture and animal life in the Potohar region, comprising Attock, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Chakwal and Jhelum districts, and other arid areas, especially Balochistan province, are mainly dependent on rains. According to Met Office report, amounts of snow and rainfall (in mm) during 24 hours up to Sunday evening were as under:
Rawalakot 32 mm, Balakot 26, Muzaffarabad 19, Malamjaba 20, Murree 17, Pattan 17, Attock 16, Abbottabad 14, Dir 11, Garhi Dupata 11, Islamabad and Rawalpindi 10, Quetta 10, Mirkhani 10, Nokundi 10, Kalat 9, Kotli 9, Saidu 9, Joharabad 6, Parachinar 6, Chitral 6, Khuzdar 6, Sialkot 4, Darosh 4, Shorkot 4, Peshawar 3, Skardu 3, Kohat 2, D I Khan 2, and Jhelum 2 mm.
Met Office predicted rain with snowfall-at times heavy-over the hills in most parts of the country, including Kashmir, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi divisions up to Monday evening. It said that the present rain spell would continue till 11th of this month. Experts said that the timely rains would have very positive effect on the wheat crop, which has been sown on 0.2 million hectares less than the target area for this season due to water shortage and high input costs.