Marooned people go without food, water
QUETTA:
Gwadar, Jiwani and other townships in Balochistan’s coastal belt witnessed no substantial improvement in the ground situation after torrential rains precipitated by cyclone ‘Phet’ inundated them in knee-deep water. People had no access to clean drinking water, food and other essentials as they were left virtually marooned.
Since the major portion of the coastal highway is under flood with all the important bridges and culverts washed away, traffic remained suspended on Monday. No vehicle was able to cross the major coastal township using the coastal highway.
About 80 buses and their passengers are trapped near Belar as the local administration could not reach there to supply them food and water in a desolate place. In Gwadar, rain water is still stagnant and no government department was available to join the effort to drain it out from the old township. However, the local people are applying self-help tactics in improving their living for the day.
Army, Navy and the Frontier Corps Balochistan had dispatched relief supplies to Gwadar and other adjoining townships by air as the land routes are blocked.
The provincial chief minister is expected to pay a visit to Gwadar and some adjoining areas using the executive jet plane or army helicopter to meet the affected people on the Mekran Coast.
He made the announcement while responding to a debate on the floor of the Balochistan Assembly on cyclone and torrential rains that lashed major parts of Balochistan.
However, the federal Government had not announced any grant for the stricken people after three days the cyclone battered the Balochistan coast.
According to reports from Lasbela, five persons lost their lives in rain-related incidents in Damb, Sonmiani and Gadani area. Torrential rains flooded all the low-lying areas of Lasbela disrupting vehicular traffic on the RCD Highway on Karachi-Bela Section. However, local and public transport provided some relief to the people on in which the administration had no role.
Chances of life returning to normal anytime soon in the Makran coastal region or in the central Makran range are dim, where torrential rains devastated agriculture, orchards and fisheries. Most dams and seasonal rivers are still overflowing their banks. Ankara Dam was saved from bursting its banks as its spillway was opened in time allowing the additional water to inundate its downstream. More than 4,000 people were affected as a result of flooding from Ankara Kaur Dam near Gwadar.
Most of the private ‘bundat’, or traditional dams for land irrigation, were washed away as all the major seasonal rivers in Mekran are in high spate increasing their discharge to an unprecedented level.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 8th, 2010.
Gwadar, Jiwani and other townships in Balochistan’s coastal belt witnessed no substantial improvement in the ground situation after torrential rains precipitated by cyclone ‘Phet’ inundated them in knee-deep water. People had no access to clean drinking water, food and other essentials as they were left virtually marooned.
Since the major portion of the coastal highway is under flood with all the important bridges and culverts washed away, traffic remained suspended on Monday. No vehicle was able to cross the major coastal township using the coastal highway.
About 80 buses and their passengers are trapped near Belar as the local administration could not reach there to supply them food and water in a desolate place. In Gwadar, rain water is still stagnant and no government department was available to join the effort to drain it out from the old township. However, the local people are applying self-help tactics in improving their living for the day.
Army, Navy and the Frontier Corps Balochistan had dispatched relief supplies to Gwadar and other adjoining townships by air as the land routes are blocked.
The provincial chief minister is expected to pay a visit to Gwadar and some adjoining areas using the executive jet plane or army helicopter to meet the affected people on the Mekran Coast.
He made the announcement while responding to a debate on the floor of the Balochistan Assembly on cyclone and torrential rains that lashed major parts of Balochistan.
However, the federal Government had not announced any grant for the stricken people after three days the cyclone battered the Balochistan coast.
According to reports from Lasbela, five persons lost their lives in rain-related incidents in Damb, Sonmiani and Gadani area. Torrential rains flooded all the low-lying areas of Lasbela disrupting vehicular traffic on the RCD Highway on Karachi-Bela Section. However, local and public transport provided some relief to the people on in which the administration had no role.
Chances of life returning to normal anytime soon in the Makran coastal region or in the central Makran range are dim, where torrential rains devastated agriculture, orchards and fisheries. Most dams and seasonal rivers are still overflowing their banks. Ankara Dam was saved from bursting its banks as its spillway was opened in time allowing the additional water to inundate its downstream. More than 4,000 people were affected as a result of flooding from Ankara Kaur Dam near Gwadar.
Most of the private ‘bundat’, or traditional dams for land irrigation, were washed away as all the major seasonal rivers in Mekran are in high spate increasing their discharge to an unprecedented level.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 8th, 2010.