Ali Sheikh
Peshawar: Heavy rainfall continued in Peshawar on Monday, leading to inundated roads across various parts of the city. The torrential downpour, which began early this morning, resulted in overflowing drains and inundated roads, severely disrupting normal life.
Continuous rains haved created havoc across the country killing around 39 persons.
Several low-lying areas in Peshawar were submerged under water within hours of the relentless rainfall. The inundation of roads resulted in significant traffic congestion, making it difficult for commuters to navigate through the city.
Large number of motorcyclists were seen parking their bikes under the BRT bridges during the heavy downpour while the traffic at inundated roads as traffic police officials were seen helping the motorists.
Emergency services, including rescue teams and disaster management personnel, have been deployed to the affected areas to assist those stranded by the flooding. Efforts are underway to provide relief and support to the affected population.
This recent bout of extreme weather highlights the vulnerability of Peshawar roads during heavy rains. It underscores the need for better urban planning and infrastructure development to mitigate the impact of such natural disasters in the future.
River situation
Meanwhile, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the rivers at different points are facing flood-like situation on Monday due to heavy rainfalls.
According to an official report on Monday, river Swat is in high flood at Munda with water flow of eight-thousand cusecs. Kabul river at Nowshera with ninety-eight thousand six-hundred cusecs and Panjkora river at Zulum bridge Lower Dir with forty-two thousand two-hundred and eighty-seven cusecs water flow are in medium flood situation.
Similarly, Kabul river at Warsak with forty-one thousand eight-hundred and thirty-two cusecs and Swat river at Khwazakhela with thirty-thousand one-hundred and eighty-four cusecs water flow are facing low level flood situation.
Indus river at Attock Khairabad with one-hundred thirty-two thousand and five-hundred cusecs and Swat river at Chakdara with twenty-seven thousand seven-hundred and twenty-one cusecs are flowing normal. The Rescue 1122 in the KP province has been put on high alert and engaged in rescue activities along with the necessary equipment in the rain affected areas.
Director General Rescue 1122, Dr. Khateer has cancelled holidays of all staff members to ensure swift rescue operation. The district control rooms of Rescue 1122 are fully operational and the people can contact the helpline 1122 to report any emergency situation.
A total of eight people have died and twelve others injured due to heavy rains in various parts of the province during past three days.
PDMA issues alert
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) on Monday issued an alert letter to all district administrations in the wake of a forecast for more widespread rains with winds in the province till April 21.
DG, PDMA Muhammad Qaiser Khan directed all the district administrations to ensure availability of manpower and machinery to cope with any emergency situation including flooding in the low-lying areas due to heavy rains and landslides in the upper districts.
The PDMA asked the district administrations to issue tourists advisory besides instructing the local population to take precautionary measures. It said that PDMA’s emergency operation center was fully operational and people could report any untoward incident to 1700.
