Breaches leave 200 villages flooded in Badin

Farmers devastated by lost crops, demand relief from Sindh govt, say no hope from Centre

HYDERABAD:

Semi-urban and rural towns, as well as villages, in Sindh are still reeling from the impact of the monsoon rains as breaches continue and affected people await relief support.

Breaches in three freshwater channels and a saline channel reportedly flooded around 200 villages in Golarchi taluka of Badin, with residents complaining that irrigation officials did not respond and hence, they themselves started to plug the 30 to 50 feet wide ruptures.

The Phuleli Gooni Outfall Drain and Matli Drain also began to overflow on Tuesday, spreading fear among residents of other villages.

'Left in the lurch'

Dozens of villages in Dighri taluka of Mirpurkhas district are also still under water.

Alam Khan Noohani, an elder of Alam Khan Noohani village, told the media that the overflowing Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) had deluged villages. "The irrigation authorities failed to desilt the LBOD prior to the rains, reducing its capacity and causing it to overflow after rains."

According to Alam, thousands of acres of agricultural land and standing crops stand devastated.

Sain Bux Noohani said water also entered thousands of katcha houses, forcing residents to take refuge under makeshift tents pitched on roads.

As Irfan Noohani added that their livestock had also begun to die, the villagers blamed elected representatives for leaving them in the lurch without any relief.

A rupture in the LBOD near Naukot had not been plugged even four days on, with residents claiming it had widened to around 600 feet by Tuesday - when Sindh Irrigation Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal visited it in a boat.

Executive engineer Naeem Memon informed the minister that his department was constructing a pathway to the breach site. According to him, the LBOD, against its designed capacity of 4,600 cusecs, was actually carrying about 10,000 cusecs.

The minister told the media that the provincial government was surveying the villagers' and farmers' losses.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Mir Tariq Talpur said 20,000 more tents had been requisitioned for distribution among the displaced people. "The government will also provide free rations to those staying in the camps as well as those marooned in their villages," he assured the local media.

He added that a temporary levy is being built around Naukot city to prevent it from flooding. The town was deluged after a similar torrential downpour in 2011.

Flood-hit people protest

Meanwhile, the flood-hit people in Johi taluka, Dadu, submerged by the water overflowing from the Nai Gaj dam, complained they were not receiving relief aid from the government.

"Hundreds of villages are still under water. But we have been left high and dry as the promised relief aid hasn't reached us yet," claimed Waqar Mastoi, one of the protesters at a demonstration in Johi.

According to him, rural health centres have been closed due to the flooding but no alternate health facilities have been provided to them.

Muneer Brahmani, another protester, alleged that the displaced people were spending their days and nights under the open sky because they had not been provided enough tents. A similar situation was reported from the neighbouring Wahi Pandhi.

Meanwhile, the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, a farmers' lobbying group, has demanded interest-free loans for flood-hit farmers from the provincial government for one year.

SCA president Syed Meeran Muhammad Shah pointed out that monsoon rains in Sindh had broken all records, causing immense losses to the agricultural sector.

He said Sindh should provide interest-free loans to farmers for the winter sowing. "It is incumbent on the provincial government to help them stand on their feet again," he maintained, adding that they had no hope of help from the Centre.