Highest rainfall in decades turns Lahore into urban swamp

Lahore, July 5  Incessant showers on Wednesday broke a 30-year-old record when the city of Lahore received over 290mm of rain within a span of 10 hours, resulting in the death of at least seven people, officials said, media reports said.

"Three people were electrocuted, two died after roofs collapsed, and a child drowned after rainwater accumulated," Pakistan Punjab interim Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi told journalists in Lahore, Geo News reported.

In an update on his official Twitter handle, the interim CM said the rain death toll rose to seven.

The metropolis received 291 mm of rain, during which more than a dozen areas recorded more than 200 mm of rain, Commissioner Lahore Mohammad Ali Randhawa said, adding this is happening due to climate change and strong monsoon, Geo News reported.

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, 238 mm 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, Geo News reported.

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.

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