Monsoon rains bring life to a standstill in Lahore

LAHORE – Significant monsoon rains brought the life to a standstill in Lahore as the rainwater inundated roads and streets not only in low-lying but also in almost all the posh localities.
No respite from urban flooding is in sight as the meteorological department has forecast more rains with occasional heavy falls for the provincial metropolis during the next couple of days.
The rains started Tuesday night and continued intermittently till filing of this report, submerging roads and streets in most of the city localities in knee deep water.
The worst affected areas include Sir Agha Khan Road, Kashmir Road, Nicholson Road, Qartaba Chowk, Sharey Fatima Jinnah, Waris Road, Main Boulevard Allama Iqbal Town, portions of Johar Town, Gulberg, Garden Town, Revaz Garden, Tajpura, Maskeen Pura, Duban Pura, Abbot Road, Samanabad, Lytton Road, Islampura, Jorey Pull, Kalima Chowk underpass, Hanjarwal, Akbari Mandi and portions of The Mall and Jail Road.
Intervals between wet spells were not enough for the ‘premier sanitation agency’ WASA to clear inundated rainwater from several localities.
As such, several city roads/streets are still under water right from the start of ongoing monsoon rains spell last Tuesday night.
Urban flooding added to the woes and miseries of motorists and pedestrians. Frequent jams were witnessed throughout the city. Vehicles and two-wheelers were seen broken down on inundated city roads.
Downpour and strong winds also caused tripping of dozens of LESCO feeders, depriving citizens in several localities from the facility of electricity. Power outages also caused shortage of water in various city areas.
The rains and winds, however, made weather pleasant by causing considerable decrease in the mercury level.
In Lahore, Lakshmi Chowk received 150mm rain, Qurtaba Chowk and Gulshan-e-Ravi 139mm each, Pani Wala Talab 136mm, Johar Town 135mm, Nishter Town 130mm, Farrukhabad 125mm, Tajpura 122mm, Iqbal Town 120mm, Chowk Nakuda 102mm, Gulberg 101mm, Upper Mall 97mm, Mughalpura 95mm, Airport 83mm, Samanabad 77mm, City 60mm and Jail Road 57mm.