50,000 families evacuated in Balochistan

Heavy showers, flash floods hit Lasbela hard

QUETTA:

Home Minister Balochistan, Mir Ziaullah Langove on Tuesday said the government has shifted 50,000 families to safe places in Turbat, Jhal Magsi and Lasbella districts of the province.

Flash floods have played havoc in Lasbella district of Balochistan, leaving thousands of people homeless.

The death toll in the rains and flood-related incidents touched the 105 mark in Balochistan, the Director General Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Naseer Ahmed Nasar said.

He added 34 children and 30 women were also among the dead.

The situation in district Lasbella prompted Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo to order evacuation of stranded people through helicopter.

“We have evacuated 50 stranded people in district Lasbela,” Nasar said.

Most parts of district Lasbela were inundated and people were stranded on the roof of their huts.

“The situation is alarming here,” Muhammad Ramazan Sasoli, a resident of Lasbela told The Express Tribune.

There is floodwater everywhere in the residential areas, he added.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) also provided helicopters to evacuate the stranded people in the Lasbella district.

“NDMA is engaged in the rescue operation and helicopters have been provided by them,” an official handout issued on Tuesday evening said. Floods have also washed away various portions of the Quetta-Karachi highway, which caused the suspension of traffic.

The hotels located on the Quetta-Karachi highway remained jam-packed with passengers in scorching heat who can’t travel on the highways due to flooding.

Women and children remained the worst-hit of the suspension of traffic on highways.

“Government is trying to restore road connectivity between Quetta and Karachi,” Langove said.

He said the government had provided commodities and other necessary items to the flood-hit people.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2022.