KARACHI: The city, thankfully, saw a partially sunny day on Thursday followed by light to moderate showers later in the evening, though contrary to what the Met Office had predicted.
Explaining the unexpected change in weather over the past two days, Focal Person of the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) Anjum Niaz Zaigham said the current monsoon system has lost its intensity and its likely impact on Karachi is almost over.
“Though as we speak, the city is likely to see good showers within an hour or so (late evening) as rain bands are approaching Karachi after bringing about showers in Hyderabad, Sanghar, Tando Allah Yar and other parts of Sindh,” he said.
He said that Orangi Town saw 113mm rain on Wednesday.
Light to moderate showers continue for third day
According to him, the weather system released its maximum energy on August 19 and the circulation over Gujarat, India dissipated early than expected.
“We were thinking that the low pressure area and the circulation over Gujarat would combine together but that didn’t happen, fortunately. Even, then, we wanted to remain cautious as it’s difficult to predict the system’s behaviour with complete accuracy,” he said.
Karachi, he pointed out, is expected to have its next monsoon spell on Aug 27, though the ongoing system is likely to impact south-east parts of the province on Friday (today).
Meanwhile, the Met department in an advisory has forecast mostly cloudy weather with slight chances of light rain / drizzle over the next two days (Friday-Thursday) in Karachi with maximum temperature ranging between 32 and 34 degrees Celsius.
According to the PMD’s 24-hour rain data of Aug 20, the maximum rain was recorded in Orangi town 113mm followed by PAF Faisal Base 43mm, Korangi 36mm, Keamari 31mm, PAF Base Masroor and University Road 24mm each, DHA 21mm, Nizamabad 19mm, Saadi twon 16mm and North Karachi 9mm.
Man dies of electrocution
A young man died of electrocution in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) on Thursday, bringing the death toll to 15 in three days of rain.
Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn that the Sahir Qamar, 30, was brought dead from DHA to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre on Thursday. He died of an electric shock, she said.
Officials said that most deaths were caused by falling house structures and electrocution.
‘Situation fully under control’
While the city administration is struggling to drain rainwater accumulated in many underpasses and roads, Commissioner Syed Hassan Naqvi claimed that rainwater had been cleared from most markets in the city and adjoining roads had been reopened for traffic.
He stated in a statement that the drainage work at Nazimabad and Tariq Road underpasses had been completed and both reopened for vehicular traffic. Similarly, water accumulated at NIPA had been removed and the road restored for traffic flow. Work is continuing at Drigh Road, Sohrab Goth, and Gulbahar underpasses, where pumps have been installed and are operational. The Commissioner said these underpasses will be cleared soon, he added.
Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani also paid a visit to the city and told the media that the overall situation in Karachi remained fully under control.
He said that despite the continuing showers, municipal staff, civil administration, elected representatives and provincial ministers are all present on the ground to supervise relief efforts. He added that after clearing major roads, drainage work on link roads and residential streets has been expedited.
He appealed to citizens to avoid unnecessary travel during the downpour to prevent any untoward incidents.
Published in Dawn, August 22th, 2025