Murad says Sindh situation 'more critical' than 2010-11 floods

Sindh chief visited rain-affected areas, says he is ready to deal with 'catastrophic situation'

KARACHI:

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Monday said the province has received around 500% more rainfall than its monsoonal average and the "situation is more critical than the floods of 2010-11". 

Murad said the average for the season has been between 150-200mm of rainfall across the province. 

Addressing a press conference in Sukkur, the chief minister stated that the “gravity of the situation could be realised from the fact that the Pakistan Meteorological Department recorded 355 mm of rain on August 19 in Padidan town of the Naushero Feroz district, while Guddu Barrage was flooded”.

“We are facing a more critical situation as compared to the 2010-11 floods and another heavy spell of rain is coming tomorrow. However, we can deal with this catastrophic situation.”

CM Murad, who has been visiting flood-affected areas for the past two days, said almost all districts of Sindh were badly affected and that he would personally visit every district to monitor the situation.

Responding to a question about floods in the coming days, the provincial chief executive said it depended on weather conditions but as of now there was no threat of more floods.

“I recently visited Guddu and directed the Irrigation Department to properly monitor the river's embankments. The department has set up a checkpoint every half a kilometre to monitor the situation and prevent any breach”, he said.

Commenting on infrastructure losses in district Sukkur, CM Murad said at least 4,377 houses were damaged and 14 people lost their lives. 

“I am receiving a more detailed brief on the situation, but so far around 19,200 people have been affected and 112,377 acres of standing crops have been damaged in the district,” he said.

Read PM, COAS discuss relief, rescue operations in flood affected areas

The chief minister, flanked by senior PPP leader Khursheed Shah and Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Shah, claimed that he had received information on negligent officers who did not respond to urgent calls during the rains and that all of them would be removed from their posts. He reiterated that strict action would be taken against officials found neglecting their duties.

Citing figures of water flow at different barrages of Sindh, the chief minister stated that the upstream level of Guddu Barrage stood at 482,940 cusecs while downstream was at 48,290 cusecs. The water level at Sukkur Barrage was measured to be 417,925 cusecs upstream and 427,086 cusecs downstream.