Rainfall devastates parts of Balochistan

Heavy rainfall washes away as many as 60 houses in Naushki, leaving houses partially damaged in other areas.

QUETTA: Heavy rainfall caused much devastation in Balochistan on Wednesday, washing away as many as 60 houses in Naushki, while leaving houses partially damaged in Quetta, Chagai and some other districts.

The land route between Karachi to Quetta and Khuzdar to Shahdadkot remained disrupted for several hours as a result of landslides and floods in the seasonal rivers.

Quetta and its adjoining areas received about 30 millimetres of rain Tuesday night, according to an official at the Meteorological department. There has been a forecast for more rain across Balochistan over the next 24 hours.

The heavy rainfall rendered dozens homeless.Commissioner Quetta Division, Naseem Ahmed Lehri, said many houses and shops in Quetta were damaged in the rain.

The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) dispatched 125 tents and blankets to Naushki for the victims with damage assessment under way, Lehri told The Express Tribune.

Intermittent rains have been lashing Quetta and other areas for the past 20 days, damaging highways, roads, bridges and houses.

In Quetta, rain water flooded houses and government buildings, eventually causing the roofs of many houses to collapse.

Lehri said houses, shops and roads in Quetta have been equipped with suction pumps to drain out the water. Rescue efforts, he added, are continuing in Quetta and adjoining areas. He, however, said that officials were unable to assess the damages caused by the heavy showers.

Officials said that around 20 mud houses were damaged in Killi Chagai in Chagai district.

The rains caused flash floods in the seasonal rivers and nullahs in Mastung and Khuzdar districts where a teenage boy, Khaliq Ahmed, was listed as missing when the flash floods swept him away.

In Khuzdar, the low-lying areas were submerged in rainwater and the highway between Khuzdar and Shahdadkot remained blocked in Mango area due to landslides. Commissioner Khuzdar division Mir Iqbal Ahmed Khosa urged the National Highway Authority (NHA) to clear the Khuzdar-Sindh road which connects Balochistan to upper Sindh and Punjab.

Around 20 mud houses were damaged in Killi Abdul Sattar, rendering more than two dozen families homeless.

Traffic also came to a halt on the national highway in Bolan district when a bridge was washed away by the flash floods.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2011.