Thatta’s fate hangs in the balance
Flood waters are rushing towards Sajjawal and officials say it will in all likelihood submerge the city.
KARACHI:
Flood waters are rushing towards Sajjawal and officials say it will in all likelihood submerge the city. Also, the National Highway is in grave danger while the the Ghorra Bari Shahra has already been inundated.
The land link between Thatta and Hyderabad is also under threat as IDPs in large numbers continue to flee the affected cities using this route.
Thatta city wore a deserted look on Saturday as shops and gas stations remained closed amid renewed fears of floodwaters swamping the historic city. Panic had gripped the city, with chaos reigning supreme on Friday.
The inundation of villages near Faqeerjo Goth and MS embankments over the past two days spread panic in towns and cities of the Thatta district, with the media propagating alarms of Thatta city being left with only “six hours” to evacuate - a claim rejected by the district coordinating officer of the area.
“I don’t know why the broadcast media issued this statement on my behalf. I did not say six hours, I only said the city was threatened as floodwaters are fast approaching but I did not specify how many hours [or days] it would take,” clarified Manzoor Sheikh.
Water levels rose in the KB feeder canal earlier in the day leading to a 40-foot wide breach and submerged nearby villages Goth Fateh Muhammad Jhakhro and Ahmed Ali Jhakhro among others, while another small breach in an embankment near Daulatpur, a union council of Shah Bandar tehsil, submerged another 35 villages. These, however, could not be plugged in time by irrigation officials, which led the Sindh chief minister to transfer the responsibility of repairing the embankments to the army. They have been given five days to contain floodwaters and prevent further flooding in the district.
Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah warned that the city would be in danger until the breach was repaired. “We are hopeful that we will successfully plug the breach in two to three days, but the danger to Thatta remains,” he said. International aid has not reached the flood victims, Shah told Express 24/7.
Many local activists working in the area blamed the media for issuing a premature warning about the floodwaters that led to the displacement of nearly 700,000 people in the district. “I have been in Thatta all day today and our team is still busy evacuating people from villages after the Kot Aalmoon breach, but I still so no waters heading towards the city,” Gulab Shah, a field worker of Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum and a resident of Thatta told The Express Tribune over the telephone.
“Since people already fear the floodwaters these days, even a false alarm for them is enough. That is why they immediately responded to the official call to evacuate, without asking any questions,” he added.
“This call reminded many of us of the flood situation back in 1955 when Thatta city was completely submerged and people used boats to travel through the city,” recalled Shah.
In order to avoid a similar situation this time, residents were quick to pack their bags and moved to safer locations such as Makli, which is situated on an elevated plain and those who could afford to commute, moved to Karachi.
Many others continue to sit under the open sky awaiting relief goods, blocking main roads to register their protest against the provincial and the district authorities for ignoring them. Shah, however, added that while relief was coming the government is to blame more for the mismanagement and lack of planning to distribute relief goods. This led to mob attacks on trucks loaded with food brought in by the army, NGOs and private philanthropists.
“The problem is that food prices have risen in Makli with increasing demand,” informed a local journalist, Khuda Bux. “The price of flour has gone up to Rs70 per kg from the earlier rate of Rs33 per kg.”
The DCO, however, added that due to low-gradient on Saturday, floodwaters headed southwards instead of moving towards Thatta. But he stopped short of declaring the city safe. “We will inform residents when we are sure that the KB feeder breach has been plugged.” This, he said, is expected to happen by Sunday or Monday evening. Officials are faced with a challenge as the KB feeder has a capacity of only 3,500 cusecs while the current level of floodwater is much higher.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2010.
Flood waters are rushing towards Sajjawal and officials say it will in all likelihood submerge the city. Also, the National Highway is in grave danger while the the Ghorra Bari Shahra has already been inundated.
The land link between Thatta and Hyderabad is also under threat as IDPs in large numbers continue to flee the affected cities using this route.
Thatta city wore a deserted look on Saturday as shops and gas stations remained closed amid renewed fears of floodwaters swamping the historic city. Panic had gripped the city, with chaos reigning supreme on Friday.
The inundation of villages near Faqeerjo Goth and MS embankments over the past two days spread panic in towns and cities of the Thatta district, with the media propagating alarms of Thatta city being left with only “six hours” to evacuate - a claim rejected by the district coordinating officer of the area.
“I don’t know why the broadcast media issued this statement on my behalf. I did not say six hours, I only said the city was threatened as floodwaters are fast approaching but I did not specify how many hours [or days] it would take,” clarified Manzoor Sheikh.
Water levels rose in the KB feeder canal earlier in the day leading to a 40-foot wide breach and submerged nearby villages Goth Fateh Muhammad Jhakhro and Ahmed Ali Jhakhro among others, while another small breach in an embankment near Daulatpur, a union council of Shah Bandar tehsil, submerged another 35 villages. These, however, could not be plugged in time by irrigation officials, which led the Sindh chief minister to transfer the responsibility of repairing the embankments to the army. They have been given five days to contain floodwaters and prevent further flooding in the district.
Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah warned that the city would be in danger until the breach was repaired. “We are hopeful that we will successfully plug the breach in two to three days, but the danger to Thatta remains,” he said. International aid has not reached the flood victims, Shah told Express 24/7.
Many local activists working in the area blamed the media for issuing a premature warning about the floodwaters that led to the displacement of nearly 700,000 people in the district. “I have been in Thatta all day today and our team is still busy evacuating people from villages after the Kot Aalmoon breach, but I still so no waters heading towards the city,” Gulab Shah, a field worker of Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum and a resident of Thatta told The Express Tribune over the telephone.
“Since people already fear the floodwaters these days, even a false alarm for them is enough. That is why they immediately responded to the official call to evacuate, without asking any questions,” he added.
“This call reminded many of us of the flood situation back in 1955 when Thatta city was completely submerged and people used boats to travel through the city,” recalled Shah.
In order to avoid a similar situation this time, residents were quick to pack their bags and moved to safer locations such as Makli, which is situated on an elevated plain and those who could afford to commute, moved to Karachi.
Many others continue to sit under the open sky awaiting relief goods, blocking main roads to register their protest against the provincial and the district authorities for ignoring them. Shah, however, added that while relief was coming the government is to blame more for the mismanagement and lack of planning to distribute relief goods. This led to mob attacks on trucks loaded with food brought in by the army, NGOs and private philanthropists.
“The problem is that food prices have risen in Makli with increasing demand,” informed a local journalist, Khuda Bux. “The price of flour has gone up to Rs70 per kg from the earlier rate of Rs33 per kg.”
The DCO, however, added that due to low-gradient on Saturday, floodwaters headed southwards instead of moving towards Thatta. But he stopped short of declaring the city safe. “We will inform residents when we are sure that the KB feeder breach has been plugged.” This, he said, is expected to happen by Sunday or Monday evening. Officials are faced with a challenge as the KB feeder has a capacity of only 3,500 cusecs while the current level of floodwater is much higher.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2010.