KARACHI: At least seven people were electrocuted and one died in a landslide in different parts of the metropolis, which continued to receive downpour on the sixth consecutive day on Saturday.

It was the South district which received heavy rains in the first half of the day.

Defence Housing Authority (DHA), Clifton, Bath Island, Lalazar and Keamari areas came under heavy spell that lasted for couple of hours with frequent breaks.

Within an hour of the rain, M. A. Jinnah Road, I.I. Chundrigar Road, M.R. Kayani Road, Sarwar Shaheed Road, Abdullah Haroon Road and Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road came under water.

Roads leading to Sindh Governor House and the provincial legislature were also inundated causing hardship to motorists and pedestrians.

South district receives most rain

By 5pm, the Met Office recorded 59 millimetres of rains at its PAF Masroor Base observatory and 38.2mm at DHA Phase II.

The Met Office said other parts of the city witnessed drizzles, traces or single digit count of the downpour.

Deaths

Saturday’s rains caused more loss to human lives as eight people died in rain-related incidents in the metropolis.

The police, hospital and rescue services officials said that seven people died from electrocution.

SHO Korangi Industrial Area Inspector Akhlaq Ahmed said that Abdul Khaliq, 28, was an owner of a restaurant in Mehran Town. He got an electric shock and died, when he tried to change an electric bulb in the restaurant.

In Korangi, Abdul Rasool, 35, was electrocuted. His body was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said that a 30-year-old man, Abdul Ghaffar, was electrocuted in Baldia’s area of Swat Colony.

Dr Syed added that another man, identified as Inayatullah, 22, was electrocuted in Sohrab Goth near Al-Asif Square.

The victim was a waiter at a restaurant and going upstairs when he slipped. He tried to stand up by holding a wall where he received the electric shock from an electric board on the wall and died.

A 23-year-old man, Raqeeb, was electrocuted in Manghopir.

In North Karachi, a 13-year-old boy, Muzammil got an electric shock inside his home in Arsalan Homes and died.

In Korangi’s 100 quarters, an old man died from electric shock inside his home. Edhi Foundation spokesperson said that a man, Tufail Khan, 32, died in land-sliding in Baldia’s Abidabad area as heavy stone hit him.

The body was taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi. Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said that Tufail Khan was crushed underneath a boulder that fell from a hill.

Rains effects

The major effects of rains on South district this time pushed the city administration to put extra efforts to clear thoroughfares, streets and adjacent lanes after hours-long exercise in Karachi’s business district.

“Major thrust of the rain was in district South. Nalaas & drains are working on packed capacity. Teams of KMC, DMCs, District Administration, KWSB, Cantonment Boards & Solid Waste are all out on the road to handle the situation. Will keep everyone posted,” Karachi administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab tweeted with images supervising the rain-related operation of his teams.

Due to enhanced measures from the administration, most roads were cleared, though a few intersections were inundated with rainwater.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2022