No bijli and bohat sara pani; record-breaking rain in Lahore

Heavy rainfall drenched Lahore in the early morning hours as the city received 350 millimetres in three hours, breaking a 44-year-old record.

Thursday morning, heavy rains descended upon Lahore, causing rainwater to enter homes in the Tajpura area, submerging roads, and disrupt commutes. Electricity has also been suspended in multiple areas for many hours.

But the rain wasn’t restricted to Lahore as Karachi, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Sheikhupura, Pakpattan, Kasur, Jehlum, and several other cities of the country received rain, with low-lying areas submerged.

Geo News reported that, commenting on the situation in Lahore, Sardar Sarfaraz, chief meteorologist at the Pakistan Meteorological Department, termed the rains “torrential”.

“There were more rains in Sindh compared to Punjab. But this was expected.”

“This spell is expected to decrease in intensity, but it will continue raining intermittently until this evening as there’s a substantial cloud mass. From August 1 to 6, several parts of the country will see rain,” he said.

With heavy downpours suspending normal life in the city, water entered Services Hospital and Mayo Hospital’s emergency department, causing extreme distress to the patients.

Weather department has predicted intermittent rains continue in Lahore, and the monsoon rains are likely to continue till August 6.

According to the Meteorological Department, the highest rainfall, 337 mm, was recorded at Lahore Airport, while 250 mm of rain was recorded in Nishtar Town.

The rainfall at Lahore Airport is the highest recorded in 44 years.

On the other hand, LESCO officials say that more than 400 feeders have been tripped due to rain in Lahore, the restoration work will start as soon as the rain stops.

Apart from Lahore, low-lying areas were flooded due to heavy rain in the cities of Sheikhupura, Kasur, Pakpattan, Sargodha, Jhelum, Murree, Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Mirpur Azad Kashmir is also experiencing intermittent rain and trees have fallen due to landslides at different places.

According to the National Highways and Motorway Police (NH&MP) spokesperson, intermittent rain continues on most national highways.

The spokesperson told Geo News that rainfall was recorded from Motorway M2 to Pindi Bhattian, Sheikhupura, Kala Shah Kaku, and Thokar Niaz Baig, while Manga Mandi, Patuki, Renala Khurd, and Okara were also drenched in rainwater.

Meanwhile, Motorway M3 from Faizpur to Nankana Sahib also received heavy rain.