LAHORE – The death toll from from heavy rain in upper parts of the countryhas risen to 15, officials said on Wednesday.
The heaviest rains seen in Lahore since 1980 continued into Wednesday,flooding streets and causing some residents to join small demonstrationsagainst local authorities.
Rescue officials and police confirmed the death toll, saying most deathswere caused by electrocution and homes caving in.
The city’s submerged streets and widespread power breakdowns exposed thelack of preparedness of civic departments to deal with the monsoon downpour.
A portion of The Mall, near the recently dug underground station of theOrange Line Metro Train, caved in on Tuesday because of heavy rainfall,forming two large craters on a newly-constructed stretch of Mall Road, nearthe General Post Office intersection.
Rainwater kept draining into the yawning gaps that opened up, threateningthe foundations of the multi-billion-rupee underground rail station and theadjacent historic buildings.
The Flood Forecasting Division in Lahore said the rain spell was likely tosubside today (after 24 hours) in upper parts of the country and after 48hours in south Punjab. Scattered winds and thunderstorms, with isolatedheavy rainfall, are expected over upper catchments of all major riversalong Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Multanand Dera Ghazi Khan divisions over the next 24 hours.
Pakistan has long struggled to cope with the annual monsoon rains, whichtrigger flash floods and mudslides that destroy homes.