LAHORE: A border between the two classes — Haves and Have-Nots — the city canal is a center of attraction for the lower-middle-class families to beat the heat of the scorching sun in the month of Ramadan as hundreds throng here to cool their fast.
Lahore’s canal, virtually in the center of the city, serves as a demarcation line between affluent areas and the rest. Upmarket areas have farmhouses, swimming pools, centrally air-conditioned halls. There are meeting points where the upper middle and elite classes meet while away their time waiting for breaking the fast moment.
But the lower middle classes have only one source to fetch the body mercury to lower side — the canal.
Several hundreds of people visit the canal to beat the heat where the trees are a natural substitute for beach umbrellas and sun awnings, shielding bodies from the fierce heat of the sun.
These families count themselves lucky to have the canal so close to their homes and are drawn to its cooler banks and hang out there during their fasting hours.
“I am lucky I live nearby, only half a kilometer from this point. I cannot afford air conditioning. We are fasting in the holy month of Ramadan and count the canal water as a blessing for us. My family spends the hottest hours of the day on the canal bank,” said mother of three Inayat Begum, interviewed standing in the water of the canal.
This canal also attracts hundreds of young people every day who use it as a swimming and jumping pool.
“It is really a good place to enjoy if you are fasting. Dip in the water, cool your body and also have fun,” Ali Noor, a boy in his teens told the Arab News.
Those who use the canal as a swimming pool do so against medical advice, however, as the waters can cause disease.
“The water of the canal is not clean as many people throw their waste in it and it contaminates the water. Taking a bath here can cause skin allergies and people should avoid it. Many families dip their young babies in the water and that is very harmful,” said Dr. Arif Mehmud of Mayo Hospital.
But while the District Administration has banned bathing in the canal, law enforcing agencies take a lenient view due to Ramadan.
“It is very hot and poor people spend their noon here. They beat the heat by swimming in canal water. They are fasting and we do not take action against them except issuing them with warnings,” a member of the Dolphins, the newly formed police squad to fight street crime in Punjab province, said while patrolling the canal side.
Lahorites beat the heat on ‘canal beach’
Lahorites beat the heat on ‘canal beach’
- Lahore canal is a border between the two classes — Haves and Have-Nots
- Doctor warns against dipping young babies in the harmful canal water
Pakistan cuts key rate by 50 bps to 10.5% in surprise move after holding for four meetings
- An IMF staff report last week warned against premature easing, with analysts expecting SBP to hold the policy rate
- Inflation remains within the bank’s target band, but analysts expect price pressures to rise later in the fiscal year
KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank cut its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 10.5 percent on Monday, the bank said on its website, breaking a hold on the rate for four meetings in a move that surprised analysts and came despite IMF warnings to avoid premature easing.
All 12 analysts in a Reuters poll had expected the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to hold the policy rate at 11 percent.
Monday’s reduction takes the total easing since rates peaked at 22 percent to 1,150 basis points, after the SBP delivered 1,100 bps of cuts between June 2024 and May 2025 and then held the rate steady for four meetings before Monday’s move.
Inflation edged down to 6.1 percent in November from 6.2 percent in October, within the SBP’s 5 percent–7 percent target band, with analysts expecting it to rise again later in FY26 as base effects fade and food and transport prices stay volatile.
An IMF staff report last week warned against premature easing, calling for policy to remain data-dependent to anchor expectations and rebuild external buffers, even as Pakistan received a $1.2 billion disbursement under its loan program.
