Govt urges caution as heavy rains expected across Pakistan

Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman on Sunday urged all public and non-government organisations to remain “vigilant and ready” as heavy rains with thunderstorms are expected across the country over the next two days.

The estimated number of people that may be impacted by rains, she said, was 0.9 million. “The highest amount of rainfall will be in Punjab’s cities like Lahore, Narowal, and Sialkot. Other provinces have been alerted too for heavy to moderate rain,” Rehman warned, adding that urban flooding alerts had been issued for cities and municipal areas with risks of landslides.

The minister also stressed that “coordinated preparedness and proactive responses” saved lives and urged all the response teams to stay vigilant.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had earlier cautioned that there was a possibility of “severe thunderstorms” and “heavy rainfall” in North/Northeastern Punjab, including Lahore, Sialkot, and Narowal over the next 48 hours. It said there was a potential for thunderstorms and heavy rainfalls in Sindh’s Karachi, Tharparkar, Sukkur, Larkana, Hyderabad, Badin, and Shaheed Benazirabad. In Northeastern Balochistan, thunderstorms were predicted in Sibbi, Zhob, Khlu, Killa Saifullah, Khuzdar, Barkhan, Loralai, Dera Bugti, and Lasbela.

Similarly, rainfall was expected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Malam Jabba, and Balakot over the next two days. The NDMA also warned of urban flooding in municipal areas and landsliding in hilly regions. In its guidelines issued along with the forecast, the authority directed city and district administrations to ensure contingency traffic plans for areas vulnerable to flooding in cities, especially Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot, and Faisalabad.

“All district administrations should ensure completion of stock-taking and reconnaissance and public awareness/information in vulnerable areas, especially Marala Headworks on River Chenab and Jassar on River Ravi with respect to chances of flood flows until July 20,” it said. The NDMA further directed all the stakeholders to maintain “proactive coordination” to ensure prompt response at the grassroots level. According to the authority, 68 people have been killed across the country in monsoon rains since June 26 while over 120 were left wounded.

In the past week, Lahore received record-breaking rain which claimed dozens of lives and submerged roads in several localities. Meanwhile, eight children were buried alive in KP after a landslide hit the Shangla district. Meanwhile, the Federal Flood Commission (FFC) said that medium to high flood discharge is expected in River Ravi at Jassar (first control structure on River Ravi in Pakistan) and high-level flooding in River Chenab and associated Nullahs of River Ravi during next 48 hours.

According to the daily FFC report on Sunday, except for River Kabul which continues to flow in “Low Flood” at Nowshera, all major rivers of the country are presently flowing in “Normal Flow Conditions”. At present combined live storage of three major reservoirs show a healthy position (61.04% of total 13.443 MAF as against 18.74% last year).

According to Flood Forecasting Division (FFD), Lahore, yesterday’s deep Trough of the Westerly Wave still persists over Northern parts of Pakistan whereas Seasonal Low lies over Northwestern Balochistan. Upper air cyclonic circulation (the main source of streams of air at higher altitude) yesterday over Northwestern Madhya Pradesh (India) lies over Western Rajasthan (India). At the reporting time, strong monsoon currents from the Bay of Bengal has weakened slightly and thus moderate monsoon currents from both sources (Bay of Bengal & Arabian Sea) are now penetrating into the upper parts of Pakistan upto 7,000 feet.

Widespread wind thunderstorms/rain with heavy falls at isolated places and very heavy falls at one or two places over the upper catchments of rivers Ravi & Sutlej is expected during the next 24 hours