Due to the submersion of the National Highway, traffic has been suspended in the Rahim Yar Khan district. A 30-kilometre long queue of Karachi-bound vehicles can be seen from FFC Chowk to Kot Sabzal. Truck drivers said that they had been stuck on the road since two to three days. The drivers have also protested blocking the road leading to Peshawar.
In Kot Sabzal, hundreds of people protested after water was let into the city through the National Highway. According to details, water from the breaches of Raini Canal and super bund Bhong is nearly three feet high from the National Highway. Highway officials are passing water from three sites and traffic has been disturbed for five days. As a result it is taking trucks 24 hours to reach from FFC to Kot Sabzal.
On Friday, the National Highway and Pakistan Army tried to let water enter Kot Sabzal but hundreds of people staged a sit-in and announced that water was entering the city. “We are already inundated. We cannot afford more water in this area,” the protesters said. After more people reached the site to protest, the highway and army officials left the area.
Malik Shafiq Ahmed, Riaz Ahmed Joiya, Abdul Sattar, Rana Javed and others said the population of Kot Sabzal was 25,000 and that the entire population had been affected by the floods in the area. “The authorities seem to just want to wipe out the entire area,” said Malik Shafiq, who lost his house and his two children in the floods.
Locals have appealed to the Punjab chief minister, army officials and the prime minister to save Kot Sabzal from forced inundation.
Meanwhile, 30 more villages in Kot Sabzal were submerged which include Sona Jona, Dine Pati, Chak 165, Ayub Wahla and Golay di goth. Water is advancing and will enter Chak 44 NP, Fazilpur, Jung Kho, Dhundi. “So far 1,200 villages in the vicinity of Kot Sabzal have been submerged but the prime minister is busy campaigning and making statements,” said Abdul Sattar, adding that the government was virtually absent in the region.
In Mianwali, several epidemics have spread in flood affected areas and dozens of flood victims are suffering from water-borne diseases. Medicine is unavailable in relief camps and medical camps have been formed to cope with the situation.
The relief camps lack lady doctors to help the large number of pregnant women who are expected to deliver within the month. Gastroenteritis, dysentery, rabies, eye problems and skin diseases are on the rise in all flood zones. “Despite claims that water levels are decreasing in the area, diseases are on the rise. We may have an epidemic of cholera on our hands if we cannot control the situation,” said medical volunteer Nabeel.
On Saturday, 11 unidentified bodies were recovered near the Chashma Barrage. The bodies have been buried by local administration. Relief workers are removing thousands of dead animal carcasses from the River Indus.
In Abadput, a quarrel broke out over the distribution of food at the government high school Dolatpur dastarkhawan. The Malik and Kehal clan quarrelled and beat people with sticks as camp in charge Girdawar Safdar Khan fled from the scene to save his life.
At head Taunsa, water is receding and the water level is 450,000 cusecs currently. However, several villages in Rohelanwali including Bunda Ishaq, Faizpur, Makhan Bela, Chowk Nazirwala, Aluhaywala have been submerged and Rajanpur’s town Shikarpur is also inundated.
In Rojhan water is receding but the flood affected people have not yet started returning to their homes. In Kot Addu and Daira Din Panah, too, people are hesitant to return home because there is no electricity in Daira Din Panah.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 22nd, 2010.
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