National Highway to Jacobabad still closed

SUKKUR: Hundreds of flood survivors from Jacobabad were unable to go back home to celebrate Eid because the Sindh-Balochistan National Highway, which was damaged in the floods, has not been opened for the public yet.

The highway near Shikarpur was damaged when the breach in Tori Bund sent torrents of water towards it on August 7. A month later, the highway is still under construction.

A large part of the highway, about 100 feet wide, was damaged and a 25-foot deep ditch was created by the floodwater, suspending all traffic for more than 30 days.

The National Highway Authority (NHA) tried to complete repairs by Eid and even opened it for traffic temporarily by building a makeshift platform from 100 PVC pipes (usually used in drainage systems). However, the pipes were washed away by the flooding water within half an hour and the road was submerged again.

In fact, the pipe-bridge even washed away most of the repairs that had been carried out by then. Repairs began 10 days ago and by Wednesday, September 8, the ditch was filled to a great extent even though 20,000 cusecs were still running over the highway. However, the platform of pipes caused the water flow to rise higher on one side and when it finally pushed the pipes away, much of the stone-filling was washed away too.

But 30 minutes was enough for the news to spread that the highway was opened. Hundreds of families rushed to the road only to find it submerged again.

DCO Shikarpur Saeed Ahmed Mangnijo said that repairs were being carried out swiftly. “The highway will be accessible to small cars very soon,” he added.

Around 300,000 people in Jacobabad were affected by the flooding and much of area surrounding the city is still under water. Most of the residents fled to Sindh while some families went to cities in Balochistan. Those who sought refuge in Balochistan have slowly started to head back to their hometowns but the majority in Sindh has yet to go home due to the devastated highway.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2010.