Balochistan rail link severed

Passengers stranded at Sibi, Jacobabad stations as rescuers try to clear track

QUETTA:

The recent floods severed the train link between Balochistan and the rest of the country, causing inconvenience to a horde of passengers, who were left stranded at the Sibi and Jacobabad railway stations, railway officials and train travellers said on Tuesday.

Officials said that the railway track in Lehri and Notal areas of the Naseerabad district was inundated after heavy rainfall. The railways stopped the passenger trains at Sibi and Jacobabad as rescue workers spent a hectic day clearing the track in order to restore the train service.

“Passenger train stopped at Sibi after the track was submerged in floodwater,” Railway official Muhammad Izharul Haq said here. “A team has been dispatched to clear the track. For the whole day, the passengers were waiting at Sibi and Jacobabad for the resumption of train service,” he added.

Read more: Flash floods wreak havoc in Balochistan

The stranded passengers spoke of their frustration at being unable to continue their journey, amid inclement weather. “We are here since morning”, Muhammad Bilal, a passenger traveling from Quetta to Rawalpindi, lamented. Women and children are the hardest hit.”

Floods wreaked havoc in Kohlu, Barkhan, Killa Abdullah, and Naseerabad districts of Balochistan. “Thousands of people are without any shelter on the Quetta-Jacobabad highway near Dera Murad Jamali,” said Mir Muhammad Sadiq Umrani, a central leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

In Kohlu, Barkhan and Killa Abdullah districts, floods swept away small bridges, roads and dams, leaving thousands of people homeless. The floods also destroyed crops on over 500,000 acres of land in all the 26 worst-affected districts of Balochistan.

Also read: Cash relief hiked as Balochistan deaths top 200

In Quetta, Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo chaired a provincial cabinet meeting on Tuesday. On the occasion, the provincial ministers announced a donation of their one-month salary to support the flood-stricken people.

The provincial government also announced to pay one-day's salary of the government employees for the flood-affected people. "The federal government should support Balochistan government for the rehabilitation of the flood affectees,” Bizenjo told the cabinet meeting.

Earlier, Chief Secretary Abdul Aziz Uqaili briefed the cabinet members about the damages caused by the floods across the province. The cabinet directed all teams concerned to conduct an immediate and comprehensive survey of the damages caused by floods and heavy rainfall in Balochistan.