I told you so, says Qaim

CM Sindh says he warned about the water flow reaching range of 1,000,000 to 1,100,000 cusecs but nobody believed him.

KARACHI: Sindh chief minister Qaim Ali Shah said on Saturday that he warned about the water flow reaching a range of 1,000,000 to 1,100,000 cusecs but nobody believed him.

Speaking at a press conference at the Chief Minister’s House, Shah said that he had warned the relevant officials about the impending flood but they had simply dismissed his fears, saying that the flow would not go beyond 900,000 cusecs.

More than 3.7 million people have been affected by the flood in Sindh and economic losses are expected to amount to Rs40 billion.

Now the flood is racing towards Naudero and Ratodero in Larkana, said the chief minister, adding that the government was planning to divert the raging water to the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) near Shahdadkot.

“The water will be let out into Manchar,” he said.

Earlier in a meeting, Shah said after the flood devastation, survivors are heading towards big cities. He instructed that flood survivors, who were arriving in Karachi, should be provided every facility in relief camps. Administrator Karachi Fazalur Rehman told the meeting that six relief camps have been set up in Karachi. So far 3,721 survivors have arrived at these camps and of these, 2,600 are at Polytechnic School Raziqabad in Bin Qasim Town. The chief minister directed the Karachi administration to make arrangements for the providing shelter to at least 50,000 survivors.

Responding to a question, Shah said the embankments of the Right Bank Outfall Drain are strong and the water can easily be passed into the Arabian Sea.

While the army, navy and Rangers had tried their best to evacuate people from the kachcha areas, many of them are still adamant on staying at their homes.

More than 40,000 people are stranded in these areas. According to the chief minister, no cut had been made near Tori Bund but the breach occurred itself due to the unbearable water pressure, causing destruction in areas including Ghauspur, Karampur, Khanpur, Shikarpur and Jacobabad.

Sukkur Barrage had passed 1,165,000 cusecs of water, creating a new record. Fourteen of its 65 doors had remained shut during this, added the chief minister.

Talking about the weak embankments of Indus River, he said they had been unable to strengthen these embankments because of a lack of funds. However, the government’s priority had been to save lives.

According to Shah, such massive devastation would have led to a lot more causalities had the government not acted on time. Around 11 people died in the province due to the floods but the death toll could have been more staggering, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2010.