Thousands flee to safety as water level rises in Indus

Residents of the katcha areas who have been evacuated complain of government apathy in refugee camps

SUKKUR/ HYDERABAD: With the rise in water level in the Indus river, almost all the katcha (riverbed) area between the Guddu and Sukkur barrages, spread over 160 kilometres, has been inundated. Meanwhile, around 50 per cent of the katcha area between the Sukkur and Kotri barrages, spread over 407 kilometres has also submerged under the water. Army personnel have been deployed at the Khairpur-Larkana bridge as the structure is under tremendous pressure.

The water level at Guddu Barrage reached 754,000 cusecs late on Sunday night and has been constant since. The irrigation department officials are predicting a decline in the water level in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, water level at the Sukkur Barrage is constantly rising and reached 684,000 cusecs on Monday. It is likely to rise further in the next few days. The rising water level at Sindh's barrages is putting tremendous pressure on the protective bunds, especially the Machko bund near Ubauro, Shank bund near Ghotki, Ulra Jagir bund near Pir Jo Goth, Moria bund near Naudero and Akil Agani bund near Larkana.

Army personnel are engaged in efforts to strengthen the Shank, Moria and Akil Agani bunds. Reports from Larkana suggest that the gushing waters of the mighty Indus are putting tremendous pressure on Moria bund, which has already been declared vulnerable and therefore army personnel have been deployed there. In Kashmore-Kandhkot district, the district administration, despite all the tall claims, has failed to meet the expectations of the displaced persons.

Of the over 150,000 people inhabiting these katcha areas, over 50,000 have been shifted to relief camps, established at various protective bunds. Theirs is a constant complaint, however, that there is no one to care for them.

Official apathy

The displaced persons complained that the ministers and bureaucrats were visiting the bunds with full protocol but nothing is being done to mitigate the suffering of the people. On the other hand, a majority of the residents of the katcha areas are still living in their homes, hoping that the water will recede soon. A similar situation is witnessed in Ghotki district, where the displaced persons have been left unattended. Some even claimed they paid heavy fares for the boats to move them to safer places.

The army personnel claim to have evacuated 3,000 persons, along with their livestock, from the katcha areas in Ghotki, Khairpur, Shikarpur and Larkana, besides providing medical aid to more than 800 persons.

The Pano Akil Cantonment commanding officer Major General Mohammad Arif Warraich visited the Moria and Akil Bunds in Larkana and also surveyed the relief and medical camps established by the army. Briefing him about the rescue and relief operations, Larkana commissioner Ghulam Akbar Laghari said that, so far, over 7,000 residents of the katcha areas have been rescued and shifted to relief camps. Speaking to the media later, the commissioner lambasted the officials of the irrigation department for not patrolling the sensitive Moria and Akil Agani bunds. He stressed the irrigation officials to intensify patrolling on the bunds to avert any untoward incidents.

Sukkur Commissioner Mohammad Abbas Baloch told The Express Tribune that they have rescued over 125,000 residents of the katcha areas from Sukkur, Ghotki, Khairpur and Naushahro Feroze. Some of them have moved to their relatives' houses in the pacca areas, while the others are being facilitated at the relief camps.

Speaking about the distribution of dry rations among the flood affectees, he said there may be some delays in the process, but they were trying to provide dry rations to each and every affected person after verifying their place of residence through their ID cards.

Meanwhile, 83 villages in the katcha (riverbed) areas in three talukas of Jamshoro have submerged. The villages, including 28 in the barrage's upstream taluka of Sehwan, 25 in Manjhand taluka and another 30 in the downstream in Kotri taluka, have an estimated population of 9,820 people. The district administration claims all the people have been moved out of the area. The flood also swamped 5,872 acres of land in these villages.

*With additional input by Z Ali from Hyderabad

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2015.