RAWALPINDI: Frequent power cuts, particularly at sehri and iftar, frustrated residents, while the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) blamed the rain and strong winds for the cuts.

But while rainfall and strong winds hit the city in the evening, power cuts occurred in various parts of the city from sehri until late at night on Wednesday.

The stormy weather in the twin cities brought temperatures down to 25 degrees Celsius from 39.5 degrees Celsius.

Winds as fast as 100 kilometres per hour (49kn) from north to east also disrupted the night schedule at Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA), and three domestic flights from Karachi to Islamabad were diverted to Lahore.

`Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-308, Shaheen Airlines flight NL-125 and Airblue flight 204 were diverted to Lahore and will come to Islamabad late at night, after the weather has cleared,` a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) official at the airport said.

The Met Office, meanwhile, has predicted more rainfall during the next 48 hours.

`Seasonal low lies over north Balochistan with its trough extending eastward, strong moist currents from the Arabian Sea are continuously penetrating upper and eastern parts of the country and Kashmir and are likely to continue during next 48 hours. A fresh westerly wave is affecting upper parts of the country and may persist till Friday,` a Met Office official said.

Although the weather was pleasant, the frequent power cuts created problems from people trying to prepare iftar and dinner meals in the evening, and there was no electricity in most areas during iftar.

The most affected areas were Pirwadhal, Allahabad, Westridge III, Gulshan-i-Nayyab, Aliabad, Misrial Road, Dhoke Hassu, Dhoke Ratta, Sadigabad, Muslim Town, Satellite Town, Commercial Market, Hazara Colony and nearby areas.

`The tall claims of the PML-N government that electricity loadshedding would not be observed during iftar and sehri was proven wrong. It has become common for electricity loadshedding to affect preparations of sehri and iftar and people have to have sehri and iftar without electricity,` said Allahabad resident Mohammad Akbar.

He said the local MNA, who frequently went door to door during the PPP government to launch agitation against loadshedding, was not listening to local residents` complaints.

Dilpazeer Ahmed, a Pirwadhai resident, also said there were frequent power cuts and nobody was listening to the average resident. He said he contacted the Iesco complaints office, but their phone was switched off.

The Iesco spokesperson said the Pirwadhai feeder, along with others, had tripped due to the strong winds and rain, and Iesco workers were working to restore the power supply.