MULTAN, May 28th:Another eleven persons have died of heat stroke raising the death toll to 86 as the mercury shot up to 50 degree celsius in Multan and neighbouring area on Thursday However the severe heat wave conditions subsided today (Friday), indicating the chances of dust storm said Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) Director General Dr Qamar Zaman Chaudhry on Friday. Talking to this scribe, he said the Multan on Wednesday &Thursday experienced highest ever temperature 50 degree Celsius in the month of May.There was no precedence of such highest temperature in Multan during last 54 years.Of them three persons died of heat wave here in the most populous City of southern Punjab as the temperature broke the mark recorded 54 years ago, forcing people to brave the 50 degree Celsius heat.

Rescue 1122 Spokesman Imran told that 60-year-old woman Majidan, 75-year-old Qadir Bakhsh and Rashid Ahmed (45) lost their lives in extremely hot conditions.“We received 20 calls today seeking help after people fainted due to hot weather but three of them died by the time we reached there.” However, the remaining seven were shifted to various hospitals for treatment, he added. Previous highest temperature was recorded at 49 degree Celsius on May 29 in 1954 and it was the 27th of May 2010 that left it behind by one Celsius, the Met Office said. The sun rays had a baking effect on the uncovered parts of the body, like hands and face, as people went out of their homes during peak hot hours while the impact of hot air was greater for the bike riders.During the last six days, Rescue 1122 shifted around 70 people to hospitals as they experienced sunstroke.Meanwhile, Dr Waseem Hashmi of the rescue service has advised the people to keeps their heads and face covered before going out in open air and to enhance liquid and mineral intake for avoiding sunstroke or dehydration.On Thursday, the maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 50.0 and 30.5 Celsius respectively. Humidity was recorded as 40 per cent at 8 am, which decreased to six at 5 pm.The Met Office has forecast hot and dry weather with chances of dust-raising winds and thunderstorm during next 24 hours in Multan and its suburbs.

MULTAN, May 27th:May's brutal heatwave may have killed 75 People in Punjab - and more than 200 people fainted - an ‘‘invisible tragedy’’ said the Ministry of Health Punjab .A Nishtar Medical College analysis of the event in this week- when temperatures rose above 48 to 50 degrees for three consecutive days - indicates the heatwave claimed scores of lives across South Punjab and Sindh.The majority of victims were heat-stricken elderly and chronically sick people who died prematurely,due to suffocation , often live in their airless homes or suddenly of heart failure. Vice Chancellor of Bahauddin Zikiriya University Prof Dr.Zafarullah Khan said that researchers should launch separately investigations into how to reduce heat-related deaths, after the three-day heatwave overloaded the emergency wards of hospitals in South Punjab. health system and filled to capacity the emergency.Provincial Health Coordinator Shaikh Tariq Rasheed said that at least 70 to 80 persons have so far been died of heat strike in Punjab province in last Four days(96 hours) as revealed by the reports received from different hospitals. According to break-up of May 26 and 27, Eight Persons died in Sahiwal district Six of them identified as Sharian, Aisha, Abdul Ghani, Manzooran, Misbah(20) and Muneer Ahmed. Three in Okara (Bilquees, Nawad din and Bashir Ahmed), Three in Vehari(Faiz Muhammad, Allah Bakhshai, Nazir Ahmed) Two each in Sargodha, Chhavarian, Rahimyarkhan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh,Burewala, Gujrat, Baddu Malhi, and Chichawatni, One each in Jehanian, Seetpur, Khanewal, Head Rajkan, Channi-Goth, Four in Bahawalnagar, and another 34 died on May 24 and 25.Dr. Waseem Hashmi District Emergency Officer Multan said," we are shifting 30 to 35 heat stricken people to emergency daily but we are not aware of that how many have so far been died.

MULTAN,May 25th: Another eleven persons including four women have died of heat strike as mercury swelleds to 48 degree celsius on Tuesday. Provincial Health Coordinator Tariq Rasheed Sheikh said," we have received reports of eleven heat-related casualties in Southern Punjab during last 24 hours on Tuesday," He told that one person died in Yazman, three each in Sadiqabad and Sahiwal, Two in Vehari, One each in Burewala and Lodhran. Livestock department said,"hundreds of cattle heads in South Punjab particularly in Cholistan desert due to heat strike," The plains of Punjab including the Multan city remained in the grip of severe heat wave on Tuesday with experts predicting the same weather conditions to persist during the next couple of days. People avoided unnecessarily coming out on roads that caused considerable decrease in traffic at noon in major cities of the South Punjab including Multan, Bahawalpur, Rahimyarkhan, Dera Ghazi Khan. Bahawalnagar remained the hottest place in the province where mercury rose as high as 49.2 degree Celsius.Sikandari Nullah, Shujabad, Multan canals attracted a large number of people including women and children at noon and in the afternoon. Not only youths but also elderly people were seen beating the heat by taking a dip in the mud colour canal water. At some places, even women were seen taking a bath in the canal water. On Tuesday, maximum and minimum temperature in the City was recorded 48 C and 30.8 C respectively. Relative humidity in the morning was recorded 29 percent, which decreased to 15 percent in the evening. Local meteorological department has forecast mainly hot and dry weather over most parts of the country including the City during the next 24 hours.

MULTAN,Jan 13th:The foggy environment, persisted for last 10 days, has gone scattered due to light rain in Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan on Wednesday.According to met office, it rained in Multan ,Muzaffargarh DGKhan and the areas adjacent to it yesterday, tearing apart the thick fog and letting traffic’s hustle and bustle back to normalcy.But however, the rain has intensified already chilly weather meanwhile, people have had a sigh of relief following getting rid of dense haze and restoration of city’s normal life. The transportation network remained paralyzed due to dense fog across the country here Tuesday.Multan ,Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur airport were opened after four days closure. Trains were running late for as many as 17 hours, with all trains, no matter which part of the country they were operating from, were at least five hours late. The Bahauddin Zkiriya Express scheduled to arrive at the Multan Railway Station at 10:30 am on Tuesday, arrived at 7 PM. Jaffer Express from Quetta arrived 6 hours late. Khybermail, which was due to arrive at the Multan station at 2pm on Tuesday, was late for 11 hours . Awam Express from Karachi, Karakorum Express, Quetta Express, Allama Iqbal Express, Karachi Express, Night Coach, Tezgam and Shalimar Express were late fore five to seven hours. The railway station was crowded with people waiting for their respective trains and a complete chaotic situation was seen as the intense cold weather made things worse for the delay-hit passengers and their relatives. The Waiting Halls and platform being open at all ends failed to provide the already frustrated people with any cover against the extreme weather as the maximum temperature in the provincial metropolis plummeted to just 9 degree Celsius. The sole waiting room on the platform number one was stuffed with people and their luggage as they struggled to keep up with the extending delays and the severe weather.All flights were cancelled for four due to the intervention of the weather as the air traffic was thrown off schedule due to poor visibility and unfavorable flying conditions. The airport was crowded on wednesday with the passengers, and with those who had come along to bid them goodbye or welcome their near and dears ones. Some of the passengers complained that they were not informed in time about the delay in or cancellation of their flights, adding they had to come all the way to the airport and were now stuck to wait in the intensely increasing cold weather.

MULTAN,Jan 12th:The bellow normal winter rains are likely to reduce wheat production in upcoming Rabi season 2010 by almost 50 per cent or one million tons in South Punjab and other irrigated areas, a senior official in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture told here on Tuesday. The Federal Minster for Food and Agriculture Nazar Muhammad Gondal the other day had said that the irrigated land under wheat cultivation has increased by 30 percent as against the set target for the 2009-2010 crop. He also said that the wheat sowing in rain-fed area has decreased by 20 percent due to continuous dry spell.Despite 30 per cent increase in wheat sowing area in the region irrigated by the canal system of Indus basin and only 20 per cent decline in land under wheat cultivation areas due to unfavourable climate, why the government is not expecting to cross the wheat production target? It indicates, besides low rain there were policy issues that hindered wheat growth.The official claimed that with better management, ample availability of DAP and urea fertilisers at low prices, land levelling, use of herbicides would help in attaining wheat production target of 25 million tons.It is feared that per acre yield would go down dramatically this season. As one-third increase in wheat sowing area, instead of increasing total production would just enable the economy to achieve the target.According to source, due to no rain and inadequate moisture in soil most of the farmers were reluctant to sow wheat in barani areas during the sowing season of November and December 2009. Besides, the prevailing dry spell would also affect the yield of already sown wheat, he said. This was reason the government was now expecting only a million ton wheat from rain-fed areas instead of two million tons, which it gets each year.Government has targeted wheat production of 19.2 million tons in Punjab, 3.68 million tons in Sindh, 1.21 million tons in NWFP and 0.90 million tons in Balochistan

MULTAN, Jan 9th: Condensed fog disrupted the life in Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan and all flights cancelled The foggy conditions have also kept crippled the trains operations on yet another day here in Southern Punjab, intensifying the chilly environment and adversely affecting roster of flights and trains on Saturday.Sources said the National Highways from Multan to Faisalabad, Jhang, Multan-Lahore via Sahiwal Okara, Multan-Bahawalpur, Rahimyar khan, Dera Ghazi Khan –Rajanpur, Multan have also been opened following betterment in visibility condition.
Besides Multan , Jhan, Khanewal, Lodhran, Vehari,Sahiwal, Khanewal, Okara, Faisalabad, Hafizabad, Pindi Bhattian, Sialkot, Sheikhupura, Jhelum and others are countering dense fog on Saturday, sources added.