More lives lost as floods swallow provinces

Four people feared dead after a boat carrying flood victims from Kot Addu capsizes. Crops destroyed as floods spread.

Four people are feared dead after a boat carrying flood victims from Kot Addu to Daira Din Panah capsized in deep flood water on Sunday.

The four feared dead included an eight year old child, a 16-year-old girl, and a 17-year-old boy. Thirteen people were on board the boat when it capsized. Nine people were rescued after the incident. Rescue sources say bodies of the missing will soon be recovered.

Wheat crop affected

An official from the food ministry said 600,000 tons of wheat have been lost to the waters. At warehouses in Kot Adu in southern Punjab, thousands of bags have been soaked and split open, gathering mould. Many areas have lost a 100 per cent of their crops, with thousands of animals being killed, while many more have no feed, he said.

More floods

Flood water is approaching Rahim Yar Khan after causing devastation in Muzzaffargarh, while a high level flood passed through Taunsa and Chashma barrages, Sunday. Up to 700,000 cusecs of water passed through Taunsa barrage, while more than 500,000 cusecs passed through Chashma barrage. This comes as Alipur and Rahim Yar Khan are under threat of facing widespread devastation by the floods.

Water level is reportedly decreasing in Muzaffargarh as the authorities have asked people to return to their houses.

Meanwhile more than one million cusecs of water passed through Guddu and Sukkur barrages. The water level is gradually increasing at Kotri Barrage in River Indus. Irrigation Department Control Room reported that over Sunday morning, 14,000 cusecs of water inflow was recorded at Kotri Barrage. Recorded water inflow at Sukkur Barrage stands at over one million cusecs and 975,087 cusecs outflow as of Sunday afternoon.

Rescue and relief

An APP report states that relief and rescue operations are in progress and the Pakistan Army has rescued 42,000 flood-affected people in the Rahim Yar Khan district while contradictory reports by Express 24/7 cite affectees making travel arrangements on their own as no administrative help is being provided.

According to the ISPR, the army had distributed 25 metric tons of ration among the flood-hit victims through helicopters and boats in the affected areas. About 2,000 army personnel are participating in the rescue and relief operation in Rahim Yar Khan district with boats and helicopters.

Corps Commander Bahawalpur Naeem Khalid Lodhi made various visits from time to time to the district to inspect the relief operation in the flood-affected areas for the help of the affectees

Balochistan: Dera Allah Yar battered by floods

Dera Allah Yar in Balochistan has become the latest place to be battered by the continuing flooding disaster in Pakistan. Witnesses say the town is under five to six feet of water and the level is rising as of Sunday.

Up to 90 per cent of it's people have left, fleeing to higher and dryer ground in Dera Murad Jamali and Quetta. Dera Allah Yar is the main town of the Jafarabad district.

Tragedy leaves three dead

Elsewhere in a relief camp on the national Highway in Sibbi, three people were killed when their shelter was struck by a truck.  Two of the victims were women.

Commissioner Naseerabad Division Sher Khan Bazai has said flood water is heading towards Usta Muhammad and people of area have been given an ultimatum to evacuate the area within 14 hours. Addressing a joint press conference with Brigadier Operation Southern Command Muhammad Tahir, Commissioner said flood waters have badly affected Dera Allah Yar Town. He said that the flood water is posing serious threats to Usta Muhammad town of district Jafarabad.

He said 0.9 million affectees have reached from Kashmore and other areas of Sindh for refuge in Naseerabad while 300,000 flood affectees are under the open sky and they are in dire need of food. Brigadier Muhammad Tahir said six army helicopters are carrying out rescue operations in the area to evacuate the affectees to safer places.

Some eyewitnesses from the area reported that hundreds of people took refuge on the roof tops of the office buildings of Deputy Commissioner, Inter Girls College and Degree College. They have appealed for evacuation to safer places because there is apprehension of collapse of the office buildings. In the meantime a group of journalists who visited the affected areas in Dera Allah Yar told Express 24/7 that a shortage of food has been created in the area. They said the miseries of affectees are increasing with the passage of time.

Jacobabad threatened by imminent flood

Flood water is once again threatening Jacobabad city despite all efforts to alter the water's course. The telephone exchange in Jacobabad has been inundated as of Sunday, breaking the city's communication link to the rest of the country.

On Saturday night, a breach was made in a canal near Baqa Pur in a bid to divert water away from the city but with no avail. A second botched attempt included creating a breach in the Indus highway to turn water towards Balochistan.

Two children have gone missing near Thal after the flood hit.