Finally, It's Raining In Punjab

With more than 20 millimeters of rain falling on Punjab over the last 24 hours, it not only broke a weeks-long dry season, but also revitalized the weather, reduced pollution levels, and reinforced the much-needed water supply for standing crops.

According to weather forecasters, the recent rain-producing system is now moving towards India, but another system is following it and will remain over the province for another four days, causing rains.

According to Met officials, the present system produced rain totaling 20 to 40 millimeters in Punjab over the last 24 hours (Wednesday). 'By 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Lahore had received 37 millimeters of rain, and it was expected to continue raining for another three days just before the overall system moved towards India.

Even so, a further longer cloud system is set to surpass it by Thursday morning, bringing more rain to the country and province, according to one of the officials.

Though the rain caused problems in low-lying areas in much-developed open cities like Lahore, farmers, however, were the happiest lot. With the country suffering over 30 percent water shortage, and the wheat crop being at a crucial stage, this substantial rain spell could not have been timelier.

'With late-sown wheat in the central Punjab province lacking first watering due to waterway stoppage, the crop was in trouble,' explains Abad Khan, a farmer from the province's central zone. It will advantage the crop in three ways: as a water substitute, as a nitrogenous effect, and as an effective urea application. Rain will not only save farmers millions of rupees that they would have otherwise spent on pouring out water for crops, but it will also force moisture levels sustaining them for a prolonged period, keeping the crop healthy.

It will profit not only wheat but also sugarcane and fodder. Finally, the rain would supply water to crops, saving underground water that would otherwise have to be pumped out at a high cost, he concludes.

Despite 24-hour rain, the city's pollution level remained in the 'unhealthy' range, which must have rung alarm bells in policy circles. According to private agencies, city pollution was still 153, despite being much lower when compared to around 500 on bad days, and thus fell into the 'unhealthy' category.

On Wednesday, it rained heavily and the wind gusted to around 18 kilometers per hour. Rain and wind are both environmental cleaners, but they were unable to do so in Lahore and most of Pakistan.

More heavy rain and snowfall are predicted during the week, the weather system that is currently causing rain across the country is projected to augment forward in Balochistan starting Thursday and to lengthen to the upper parts of the country on Friday. As a result of the effect of this weather system.

To protect standing crops from the damage of stagnant water caused by the current and expected heavy rains, farmers are advised to take every precaution.