How panic hit before the water

The rumours and incorrect information circulating in Sukkur caused a lot of panic that could have been avoided.

KARACHI: The panic got to people almost as much as the water. There is one story of a Kathiawar family who piled into their car to head to Karachi from Sukkur. Someone came by with the ‘news’ that the waters were heading their way and the man behind the wheel suffered a heart attack and died. In another story, a member of the Bijarani family had taken his brand new Cultus car to a mechanic’s to fix up some wiring. Someone came running down the road crying that the waters had reached Ghanta Ghar in Sukkur. The man threw his keys at the mechanic and took off in a rickshaw.

According to Brig. (retd) Nisar Maher, who went to Sukkur as his village is a short distance away, the rumours and incorrect information caused a lot of panic that could have been avoided. “Seepage in the bunds is normal,” he said. “But people misinterpreted these kind of things.”

Our correspondent Sarfaraz Memon in Sukkur also reported that rumours were getting the better of people in the absence of any system to disseminate information. “For two days we’ve been hearing that they are going to cut the Ali Warñ Bund,” he said. In the absence of any system, Sukkur is rife with all sorts of rumours. Additionally, there is no way for the government to inform the public of any decisions or proper warnings. The media seems to have also contributed to the panic. There were no experts who had properly gauged the situation.

Gouging their own people

It used to cost Rs2,000 to get a ride to Sukkur from the surrounding villages. But now, the transporters have jacked up prices to Rs8,000. Farmers have buffaloes valued at Rs100,000 each but are now forced to sell them for as little as Rs30,000. They need to feed the ones that have survived the flooding but have no cash. One family camped out at an empty plot in Sukkur and the man who owned it said that they had to pay him Rs15,000 to stay.

Guddu likely to remain ‘high flood’

The River Indus at Guddu is likely to continue in Exceptionally High Flood level ranging between a million and 1.1 million cusecs till Wednesday (today) evening, said the Flood Forecasting Division of the Meteorological Department on Tuesday. Under this scenario, the inundation and riverine flooding in low lying areas of districts Khairpur, Jacobabad, Ghotki, Sukkur is expected. According to latest hydrological conditions, the River Indus at Sukkur is also likely to continue in Exceptionally High Flood level till Wednesday evening. Due to this, low lying areas in districts Sukkur, Larkana, Nawabshah, Hyderabad and Naushero Feroz are likely to be submerged.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 18^th, 2010.