LAHORE: (HRNW) Incessant showers on Wednesday broke a 30-year-old record when the city received over 290mm of rain within a span of 10 hours, resulting in the death of at least Eight people, officials said.
“Three people were electrocuted, two died after roofs collapsed, and a child drowned after rain water accumulated,” Punjab interim Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi told journalists in Lahore.
In an update on his official Twitter handle, the interim CM said the rain death toll rose to seven.
The metropolis received 291mm of rain, during which more than a dozen areas recorded more than 200mm of rain, Commissioner Lahore Mohammad Ali Randhawa said, adding this is happening due to climate change and strong monsoon.
The city administration and all officers and staff of Water and Sanitation Authority (Wasa) Lahore are fully mobilised to ensure the drainage of rainwater, he added.
“Earlier this year, Lahore received the maximum rainfall of 256 mm on June 26 while in 2022, 238mm of rain was recorded in Lahore,” Randhawa said.
The commissioner said that in 2018, 288mm of rain was recorded in Lahore, adding the city has not received so much rain in such a short period of time in the last 30 years.
Meanwhile, MD Wasa Ghafran Ahmed said all low-lying areas would be cleared within a few hours after the rain stops.
According to Wasa Monsoon Control Room, the city’s Lakhsmi Chowk area received 291mm of rain, Nishter Town 277mm, Qurtaba Chowk 270mm, Gulshan-e-Ravi 268mm, Pani Wala Talab 268mm, Johar Town 260mm, Tajpura 249mm, and Iqbal Town 232mm.
The rain spell, which started earlier in the morning, paralysed the city as all the major roads and connecting streets were waterlogged making commuting impossible. Many vehicles broke down on the roads due to knee-deep water.
Rainwater entered the houses in low-lying areas of Shah Jamal and Tajpura while the electricity supply was cut, making life more miserable.
Punjab CM Naqvi said that record-breaking rain had caused urban flooding while the canal overflowed following heavy downpours.
“All the cabinet members and administration are in the field to clear the water. I am also monitoring the situation in the field and getting updates from all over Lahore continuously,” the chief minister said as he visited the city to oversee relief operations.