Heavy rain coupled with thunder and lightning Saturday night wreaked havoc in parts of Pakistan’s biggest city Karachi as rainwater mixed with sewage overflowing from choked lines entered houses and hospitals.
Areas that received downpours included Baldi Town, Orangi Town, North Karachi, Surjani Town, Gulshan-e-Maymar, Orangi Town, Bahria Town, Saddar, North Nazimabad, Tower, Liaquatabad and Nazimabad.
Following the rain, major arteries in the mega city were submerged with rainwater and commuters were stuck in their vehicles as the city administration had not taken any measure to cope with the rain, despite the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had forecast heavy rain a day earlier.
Video version: Shahra e Faisal https://t.co/VD6aNUUDTw pic.twitter.com/QbDVqRivhP
— Musaf Hanif (@the_terrific_m) February 3, 2024
Commuters faced troubles due to accumulated water mixed with sewage overflowing from choked lines on most of the roads, including MA Jinnah Road and I.I. Chundrigar Road.
خدا کراچی کے حال پر رحم کرے! pic.twitter.com/EGoBryBIEi
— Shiraz Hassan (@ShirazHassan) February 3, 2024
With the first drop of rainfall, different parts of the port city, including North Nazimabad and its suburban areas, plunged into darkness due to an electricity supply failure.
Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab warned the Karachiites against stepping out unless extremely necessary, keeping the situation in the city after the heavy rain.
Old city area, secretariat area, Tower and MA Jinnah Road still have water because of certain choking points. We deployed some machinery to clear disposal area at Hijrat Colony but some more work would be required to be done in the morning. Heading home now 🙏 pic.twitter.com/nRI7m0MLyc
— Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui (@murtazawahab1) February 4, 2024
Wahab also visited different areas of the city to inspect the situation. He ordered all the district municipal corporations to ensure rainwater drainage from roads.
