The city's first winter shower exposed the working of the civic agencies when a number of its major thoroughfares which are already in a dilapidated condition were inundated with rainwater, causing immense hardships to motorists, motorcyclists and commuters.

However, the commuters were the worst sufferers as most of the public transport had disappeared from the city roads in the evening. A number of people, including women, were seen stranded at bus stops while returning from their workplaces. Taking undue advantage of the situation, rickshaws and taxis charged fare at their whim. The major thoroughfares where a gridlock-like situation was witnessed included Sharea Faisal, M. A. Jinnah Road, I. I. Chundrigar Road, Main University Road, M. R. Keyani Road, Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road, Tariq Road, Khalid Bin Waleed Road, New M. A. Jinnah Road, Sir Shah Sulaiman Road, Rashid Minhas Road, Muhammad Bin Qasim Road, Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar Road, Shahrah-e-Quaideen, Shahrah-e-Pakistan, main Clifton Road and several major thoroughfares of the Old City Area.

Heavy traffic jams also occurred at Punjab Colony traffic intersection that leads to main Clifton Boulevard and Cantonment Railway station. Motorists passing through one track of the main University Road and Tariq Road (their other tracks are currently being reconstructed) remained stuck up in gridlocks for hours together owing to improper traffic arrangements. Complaints of stagnant water were also received from several low-lying areas of the city.

FEEDERS: Tripping of around 100 feeders also caused power failures of longer duration in various parts of the metropolis.

Complaints of non-availability of power supply were received from various parts of the city, including Clifton, Shah Faisal Colony, Malir, different societies located on either side of Tipu Sultan Road, Landhi, Saddar, Lyari, Korangi, Nazimabad, North Nazimabad and Gulshan-i-Iqbal. A spokesman for K-Electric said the power utility managed to re-energise the feeders which were tripped due to the rains. He advised the citizens to stay away from any broken wires, electrical poles and transformers.

However, sources said: "Feeder tripping is not a new phenomenon. In fact, it has become a matter of routine as the power utility has failed to install efficient protective gadgets on its system to protect them from tripping." The K-E spokesman has also requested consumers to lodge their complaints at 118 or 021-99000 and send their queries via SMS to 8119 or through KE's digital platforms. -Business Recorder