For the first time in the history of Lahore, thousands of Lahorites broke their fast on roads due to worst traffic jams on Saturday, owing to torrential rains. The provincial capital received the heaviest downpour of the ongoing monsoon season, which inundated majority of the city localities, and thus leaving the city routine life paralysed. The monsoon spell that started from twin cities hit Lahore on Saturday afternoon.
The loadshedding-hit masses got relief, as the weather turned pleasant after the rain. Lahorites came out on the streets to enjoy the pleasant weather. However, citizens faced hardships as heavy rain inundated low-lying areas disturbing normal routine life. Due to rainy water, vehicles remained stuck up on various roads.
It may be mentioned that the provincial metropolis received its biggest share of rainfall this monsoon, as heavy showers continued for almost two hours, measuring a total of 79 mm rain for the day. Heavy downpour submerged roads and streets in several localities into knee deep water and it took hours to Wasa to clear inundated rainwater after stoppage of rains.
The inundated rainwater on roads and roadsides added to the woes and miseries of motorists and pedestrians. Massive traffic jams were witnessed on a number of important arteries in the evening, as the time drew nearer to Iftari. Most of the people stuck in the messy traffic jam broke their fasts in their cars with whatever they could find. Life remained suspended for many hours in various areas of the city.
Ambulances were also stuck in the traffic hence people needing immediate medial attention were left stranded in the hands of messy traffic. In one extreme case, a desperate father got hold of his child from an ambulance and ran to hospital to get immediate treatment. Even hospitals were not safe from heavy downpour; Services Hospital was also submerged with knee deep water. Patients and medical staff faced hardship to deal with the situation.
The pools of rainwater on roads created the worst traffic jams on almost all major roads, especially on the Mall road, Jail road Lower Mall, Nisbat Road, Canal Road, Bhatti Choek, Railway Road, Circular Road and Laxami Chowk. Most streets in these localities were inundated with rainwater, exposing the planning of the departments concerned and people were seen draining out the water from their homes with buckets. The major business centres and commercial areas too witnessed a high level of inconvenience as traffic also remained stuck due to the rain.
The Circular Road, McLeod Road, Nisbat Road, Kashmir Road and Railway Road were the worst affected in the City as the traffic had come to standstill and situation continued for more than three hours. Gowalmandi Chowk, Garhi Shahu Chowk, Davis Road, Railway Station, Shadbagh, Misri Shah, Neela Gumbad Chowk, GPO Chowk, Chauburji, Samanabad, Sultanpura, Mughalpura, Shahdara, Gulshan-e-Ravi, Township, Faisal Town, Green Town, Garden Town, Gulberg, Ghazi Road, Kahna, Mozang, Saadi Park, Anarkali, Walled City, Brandreth Road and Naulakha were also in worst traffic jam condition.
Samanabad drain overflowed due to the heavy rain after which the rainwater entered the Postal Colony and a large number of houses were waterlogged. The situation was no different in the areas like Shahdbagh, Badami Bagh, Wasanpura, Misri Shah, Goal Bagh and Sham Nagar in the northern part of the city. Meanwhile, the rain surprisingly did not cause any major disruptions in the flight operations at the Allama Iqbal International Airport. Some flight arrived two hours late from Islamabad, while majority of the flights suffered little or no delays. Many trains could not depart on time and arrival schedule were deeply disturbed by the heavy rains.
The rains and windy conditions provided respite to the Lahorites from the muggy weather in the morning. Though the sky remained covered with thick clouds almost throughout the day, lack of winds and rain turned the weather muggy at noon and in the afternoon, causing the Lahorites to sweat. Lahore Canal, as usual, attracted a large number of people including women and children at noon and in the afternoon.
A Wasa official stated that Wasa teams were activated to drain out the rainwater from various city roads, adding the Wasa MD personally visited the effected areas and monitored the work. "The Wasa teams managed to drain out the rainwater from major road in three hours," he added.