LAHORE: The provincial metropolis witnessed heavy wind and thunderstorm with rain early Sunday while Met office predicted similar weather conditions for the next 24 hours.
The storm accompanied by rain started after midnight and continued for two to three hours resulting in uprooting of several trees, wall collapsing and suspension of power supply for hours in several city localities.
A van was severely damaged when a tree fell on the roadside in Kamran Block area of Allama Iqbal Town. The falling tree also snapped the power lines, completely affecting the power supply in the area. Rescue 1122 sources said more than 10 trees and a number of branches fell on different roads, including Jinnah Hospital Road while the wall of Punjab University also fell at more than five places while some electricity poles were also uprooted/bent, and the road was closed to traffic for hours. Meanwhile, residents of various localities expressed frustration over long power outages.
Various areas remained without power for over 12 hours, affecting daily life badly on the weekend.
Asif Mirza, an inhabitant of Garden Town, and Shirmeen Khurram shared dismay saying 13 hours without electricity in the whole area. Haris Miqdad was outraged over the shutdown. It’s been 12 hours without power in Allama Iqbal Town. There are children and elderly patients suffering in this heat, he observed. Dr Afaq Ahmad also reported a prolonged outage. There has been no power in C Block, Faisal Town for the past five hours. A bit of rain triggered this entire mess, he regretted. Naseem M added power has been out in Huma Block, Allama Iqbal Town since 2am. The worst part is that no one at the Lesco office is even answering the phone. Shabnam Rubina echoed similar concerns. No electricity since last night. According to an official, the power utility is working to restore power in storm and rain-affected areas. On the instructions of Engineer Ramzan Butt, senior officers are monitoring the situation in the PDC and the field. Chief Engineer Operations Nadeem Malik is also out in the field to monitor the work of removing trees that fell on power lines. Till Sunday afternoon, according to an official, 687 feeders out of 800 of Lesco were fully restored, while restoration work is in progress on 113 feeders.
The demand for electricity is 1,645MW, allocation is 2,900 MW, and drawal is 1,286 MW. All resources are being used for the restoration of power in the affected areas, said spokesperson Lesco.
Meanwhile, roof of a house collapsed in Mission Colony, Raiwind City, resulting in the death of a 35-year old woman. The incident took place in the early hours of the day, and rescue teams quickly rushed to the scene upon receiving the emergency call. According to rescue sources, the roof, which was made of T-beam girders, suddenly caved in. As a result, one or two people were trapped under the debris. Rescue workers managed to extricate a woman from the rubble, but she had already died. The deceased woman was identified as 30-year old Rabia.
