High flood: Sindh calls in army as Indus swells

11 people killed in rain-related incidents across K-P

MULTAN/ SUKKUR/ PESHAWAR/ KARACHI:

Authorities in Sindh called in the army on Saturday in view of a high flood at Guddu Barrage as 11 more rain and flood-related deaths were reported across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

Flash floods swept away at least 25 houses in Ayun union council of Chitral and destroyed a number of government buildings.

Torrents also washed away link bridges, except for the one in Ayun, and disconnected people from opposite sides of river and streams, causing a shortage of food and relief items.

Simultaneously, heavy downpour in the Sulaiman Range also caused a massive landslide in Fort Munro and Nilli Matti, suspending traffic on the Balochistan-Punjab Highway. Rains also caused flash floods near Roth Kohi, prompting the district administration to dispatch teams to breach dykes to break the intensity of the flood.

A deluge of 100,000 cusecs was expected to pass through DG Khan at Roth Kohi dyke, which has a capacity of 83,000 cusecs. The deluge is expected to pass through DG Khan between 2am and 3am on Sunday.

According to the forecast of the Met office, more heavy rains are expected in the upper catchment areas, especially in the Sulaiman Range, within the next two to five days.

Former irrigation secretary Idrees Rajput also told The Express Tribune that Guddu Barrage might receive 800,000 cusecs of water within the next 24 hours. “Hill torrents coming down from Sulaiman Range are playing a vital role in increasing the volume of water in the River Indus,” he said.

“This means that a total of 663,000 cusecs water is heading towards River Indus. With 50,000 cusecs water already gushing down from Sulaiman Range, a total of 713,000 cusecs is making its way towards the river, he said.

Bunds reinforced

Larkana Commissioner Ghulam Akbar Laghari told The Express Tribune that with the rise in water level, pressure has been intensified at protective bunds especially at 0 and 0.7 of Akil Agani bund and Bulherji bund.

He said he was visiting the katcha areas with rescue teams of Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy to motivate the residents to evacuate.

“So far, we have rescued hundreds of residents along with their livestock and other valuables but some people are still living on the relatively higher grounds in the katcha, who are not ready to evacuate,” he said.

PDMA meeting in Sindh

In a meeting of Sindh’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah directed officials to send an official request to the army to help the province deal with any eventuality.

Shah was told that 260,331 people had been evacuated from 1,260 villages of 82 different union councils of the province “We have set up 206 relief camps where 35,010 people are settled. Apart from it, the PDMA has evacuated more than 77,313 cattle heads,” said the PDMA chief.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Meteorological Department has predicted that River Kabul at Nowshera is likely to attain high flood level, ranging between 150,000 cusecs to 180,000 cusecs during the period from Saturday 10pm to Sunday 10am.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2015.