Rain Continues Lashing Upper KP As Malam Jabba Receives 10inch Snowfall

PESHAWAR Jan 6 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 06th Jan, 2017 ) : The moderate rain continued lashing upper parts of Khyber Pakthunkhwa and Fata with intermittent intervals on Friday as Malam Jabba received 10 inch snowfall of current winter season, making the weather chilly and cold.

An official of Regional Met Office told APP that Malam Jabba has received 20milimeter rain followed by Lower Kohistan headquarter s Pattan 17mm, Saidu Sharif Swat 14mm, Kurram Agency�s headquarter Parachinar 13, Balakot 12, Kalam 09, Kakul, Peshawar 08, Lower dir 06, Dir 05, Risalpur 03, Cherat, Chitral, Drosh 02 and D.I.Khan 01 respectively till Friday morning.

Moderate snowfall has also been reported at Malamjabba 10inch followed by Kalam 05inch and Parachinar 03 inch respectively of current winter season. The official said westerly wave is still affecting upper parts of the country and likely to persist till Saturday.

Rain with thunderstorm coupled with snowfall over the hills is expected at scattered places in Islamabad, upper Punjab�s Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Lahore, Faisalabad divisions, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, FATA, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir during next 24 hours that would bring the temperature further down.

The intermittent rain and snowfall in upper areas of KP has brought the temperature down as -05C temperature recorded at Parachinar followed by Kalam -03, Malamjabba and Dir -02C) respectively.

The intermittent rain may trigger landslides and avalanches in the mountainous areas of KP, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, he explained.

The Met official predicted an extended winter season till March as more rains are expected during next three months this year.

The people, doctors and farmers heaved a sigh of relief after seeing rain and snow fall in upper KP and termed it a extremely beneficial for crops besides controlling seasonal infections. The rain would help control cough, Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs), ENT and chest related diseases besides other health problems in the province.

Malik Riaz Khan, a consultant Children specialist at Govt Hospital in Pabbi told APP that dozens of cases of ARIs, Pneumonia and other seasonal infections in children were reported last month due to prolong dry and chilly weather, hoping that the current rain fall would help control these seasonal diseases in the province.

He said smoking, colds, flue and not washing hands before taking meal were the main causes of pneumonia and ARIs infections. Dr Riaz urged people to avoid smoking and people with seasonal infections and stay away from people who have colds, flu, or other respiratory tract infections and washed hands especially after attending wash rooms to avoid seasonal diseases especially fatal Pneumonia.

The agriculture experts termed the current rainfall extremely beneficial for the wheat crops especially in arid and dry areas besides increasing per acre production in KP. They said young plantation of trees would also help grow due to current rainfall especially in plain and southern districts of Khyber Pakthunkhwa. APP/fam/rn