Thousands marooned on highways

Balochistan’s link with the rest of the country remains severed

QUETTA:

Thousands of passengers have been left stranded on Karachi-Quetta highway due to closure of roads as Balochistan remained disconnected from the rest of the country through rail and road network on Thursday.

The railway track has been flooded in Lehri and Notal areas of Balochistan which has forced the Railways to stop its train services.

Several bridges have been destroyed or damaged in the floods forcing the authorities to suspend all traffic on the Karachi-Quetta highway, leaving thousands stranded and severing Balochistan’s link with the rest of the country.

“Train service remained suspended for the third consecutive day,” Muhammad Izharul Haq, an official of the Pakistan Railways said.

He added that the Pakistan Railway and civil administration were busy clearing the track of floodwater.

Flash floods accompanied by heavy rainfall washed away various portions of the Quetta-Karachi highway too.

Traffic on national highway linking Balochistan with Sindh remained suspended for more than a week.

“We are trying to restoretraffic on a war-footing basis,” Commissioner Kalat Division, Muhammad Dawood Khilji told The Express Tribune.

Khilji observed that first priority of the government was to shift people to safer places, adding that flooding had left thousands of passengers including women and children marooned.

“I have been living at a Khuzdar hotel for the past two days as I was in a Karachi-bound coach which was stopped here by authorities,” Muhammad Ramazan, a passenger maintained.

He said the administration had not provided any food to the passengers, at least not in Khuzdar, and they were running out of whatever little money they had.

The national highway linking Balochistan with Islamabad was also washed away at Dana Sir in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday night after the district received 66 mm rainfall.

Deputy Commissioner Sherani, Muhammad Ejaz Jaffar has urged passengers to avoid traveling on the highway for the time being.

Large queues of small vehicles and trucks could be seen on both sides of the highway for miles and miles.

The Balochistan Transport Department has cautioned vehicle owners to avoid unnecessary travel on the Loralai-Dera Ghazi Khan route too as Dera Ghazi Khan has also been hit by flooding.

Passengers should avoid traveling via Fort Manro to Punjab province, an official handout released by the Balochistan Transport Department said.

Torrential rains swept away bridges, roads and dams in Barkhan, Kohlu, Lasbela, Jhal Magsi and other parts of Balochistan. Floods also left thousands of people homeless in Balochistan’s Naseerabad district.

People have taken refuge near the highway linking Balochistan with Sindh province.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 19^th, 2022.