Met predicts rains in Karachi later this week

Third spell of the monsoon heavy rain, with damaging winds and thunderstorms is expected to sweep through the densely populated city of Karachi over the weekend, the Pakistan Meteorological Department Chief Sardar Sarfaraz said on Thursday. 

Like the last two spells, the rains will enter through the eastern border from the Indian state of Gujarat and move through the Rann of Kutch. The rains will affect the southwestern winds coming through the Arabian sea. 

The city has received heavy rain in the last 40 days common during the monsoon season which runs from July to September. The massive spell of rain in the last week on July 18 however exposed the city’s dilapidated infrastructure damaging the lives and properties within a day. 

Rains and related incidents killed three people in the city including a thirty-year-old policeman. The rians immediately followed power outages which lasted for more than eight hours in some areas of the city. 

Meanwhile, these outages in turn shutdown the water pumping machinery causing as water pooled on the city’s roads including in the posh localities like DHA and Clifton. 

However, Shahra-e-Faisal road, the main artery of the city, was choked with traffic for some six to nine hours causing a great nuisance to the city’s residents. 

The city’s residents were seen showing their utmost anger against the K-Electric and the city’s administration for their failure to manage the city and clean the drains before the drains. They also lambasted the utility company for cutting off light on the first drop of rain.

On which, the KE said it shut down various feeders in the city to prevent loss of lives from electrocution as many bikers take support from electric poles in rain. The Met Office, Karachi on July 19 said it 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).