Islamabad: In view of the possible continuous rain in the next few days, Prime Minister Imran Khan has instructed relevant agencies including the National Disaster Management Administration (NDMA) to maintain high alert and prepare for rapid emergency response operations.

After heavy rains caused flooding in the city of Islamabad and killed two people, the prime minister also asked people to be vigilant and careful in a tweet on Wednesday.

When the federal capital woke up today, it rained heavily, which caused severe damage to the twin cities and forced the authorities to seek military assistance for rescue work.

Although Islamabad’s Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafkat said that the storm caused the flood, the Pakistan Meteorological Department refuted this claim.

“It should be clarified that the weather system was predicted in the early weather advisory issued by PMD on July 26, 2021, and it has been disseminated to NDMA and print and electronic media. This is a large-scale heavy rainfall and cannot be called The cloud bursts,” PMD said in a statement.

Shafqaat later reposted this clarification.

Northern Army assists civil affairs

At the same time, the Pakistan Army began rescue and rescue work to assist the civil affairs department.

The Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that heavy rains caused the Nullah Lai water level in Rawalpindi to rise and water accumulated in the E-11 district of the federal capital.

It said the army is busy assisting civil affairs departments in rescue and rescue work.

It also said that emergency plans are in place to deal with any flooding conditions.

Flash flood warning

Spokesperson Dr. PMD Zaheer Babar said that various parts of Islamabad have seen record rainfall, including Saidpur Village and Golra Sharif, which have received 128 mm and 106 mm of rain respectively in the past 24 hours.

He said that heavy rains will cause flash floods in local open channels in Hazara, including areas such as Shangra, Buner, Batgram, Mansela, Balakot and Abbottabad.

The PMD spokesperson said that the various groups including Swat, Kohistan, Mardan, Chalsada, Kohart, Kashmir, Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Naroval and DG Khan The city will also receive heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours.

He added that during this period, these heavy rains will cause flooding in the cities of Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Faisalabad and Peshawar.

He said that it is particularly recommended that all relevant authorities remain “vigilant” during the forecast period.