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       ？ Rainwater enters houses in low-lying areas of Rawalpindi

       ？ Leh Nullah rises to 10 feet

       ？ Met Office forecasts more rain, urban flooding

       ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI: Heavy rainfall in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Tuesday morning triggered flash flooding in several areas, sweeping away four people, including two girls, in separate incidents in the capital.

       In one of the incidents, a man and his daughter were swept away along with their vehicle in a housing society located in the limits of the Sihala police station.

       The victims were identified as retired Col Ishaq Qazi and his 25-year-old daughter. According to police, the incident occurred early in the morning as Col Qazi was leaving home to drop his daughter. Due to the forceful water flow, their car lost control and plunged into a nullah running through Phase 5 of the society.

       Rescue workers and police rushed to the scene and launched a search operation, calling in divers to assist. The nullah flows into the River Soan, where rescue teams were stationed at multiple points in case the vehicle or bodies surfaced.

       The operation continued for over 10 hours but was called off after nightfall due to poor visibility and strong currents. The victims had not been recovered by the time of filing this report. In a separate incident, the body of a 17-year-old boy, identified as Hammad Shah, was recovered from the Soan River after he drowned in a nullah in the Humak area. Eyewitnesses said the boy slipped into the flooding nullah from its wet and muddy edge.

       Meanwhile, in the Khanna area, an eight-year-old girl identified as Anya disappeared after falling into the Korang nullah. She reportedly slipped while walking along the nullah during the downpour. A search operation was launched, but her whereabouts remain unknown.

       Rawalpindi

       Low-lying areas in Rawalpindi including Leh Nullah rose to 10 feet after which the army and the district administration were put on alert to deal with any emergency.

       The rain started in the early hours and continued until the afternoon, varying from moderate to heavy. Though it stopped in the afternoon, residents of low-lying areas remained busy until the evening, draining water from their houses.

       Leh Nullah rose to seven feet at Gawalmandi Bridge and 10 feet at Kattarian Bridge. Officials said it was a pre-alert situation for flooding, as the danger level starts at 22 feet and spillover begins at 30 feet.

       Following the pre-alert, the Pakistan Army, local administration, Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa), Rescue 1122, Civil Defence Department and Health Department arrived at Leh Nullah to monitor the situation as per the standard operating procedure defined by the Punjab government.

       A CDA official stands at a bridge on Park Road to keep an eye on picnickers and fishermen as the district administration has imposed Section 144. The administration opens Rawal Dam spillways for third time this week on Tuesday. — Photo by Tanveer Shahzad

       The Meteorological Department recorded 101 millimetres of rain at Saidpur, 78mm at Golra, 35mm at Zero Point, 68mm at Bokra and 24mm at Islamabad International Airport; 85mm at Katcheri, 35mm at Gawalmandi, 32mm at Shamsabad and Pirwadhai and 27mm at New Kattarian in Rawalpindi. It forecast more rain over the next 48 hours.

       After the heavy rains, several areas, especially Saddar, Sadiqabad, Murree Road, Kutchery Chowk, Peshawar Road, Tench Bhatta, Jamia Masjid Road, Hamilton Road, Ratta Amral, Kashmir Road, Rawal Road were inundated. Water also entered houses in low-lying areas.

       A building shed near Kamran Market in Saddar partially collapsed, while rainwater entered a house in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Lalazar-2 on Peshawar Road in the cantonment area. One person was injured and rescued by Rescue 1122. A motorcyclist also slipped into a nullah on Dhamial Road and was rescued and shifted to Rawalpindi Teaching Hospital.

       Electricity supply remained suspended in low-lying areas due to safety concerns. However, power was restored in areas along Leh Nullah in the afternoon.

       Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema said despite 85mm of rainfall, the situation remained normal and under control. He said Wasa had been instructed to drain water from roads and streets in low-lying areas.

       Wasa Managing Director Saleem Ashraf added that heavy machinery was used to clear water from Murree Road, Jamia Masjid Road, Sadiqabad, Katarian and Zafarul Haq Road. He said all officials were called in to handle any emergency and to drain water accumulated on roads adjacent to Leh Nullah. He said though more rain was forecast, there was no chance of the nullah overflowing, as obstacles had been removed a month earlier.

       More rain forecast

       A Met official said a seasonal low lies over north Balochistan and moist currents from the Arabian Sea are penetrating the upper parts of the country. A westerly wave is also affecting the region.

       “Rain-wind/thundershower is expected in Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan and northeast Balochistan. Heavy falls (at times very heavy) are also likely in upper KP, Potohar region, northeast Punjab and Kashmir during the period. Hot and humid weather is expected in southern parts of the country,” he said.

       Heavy rains may generate flash floods in nullahs/streams in Chitral, Dir, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra, Kohistan, Abbottabad, Buner, Charsadda, Nowshera, Swabi, Mardan, Murree, Galliyat, Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

       Heavy downpours may cause urban flooding in low-lying areas of Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sialkot, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Okara, Nowshera and Peshawar.

       Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2025