Johi residents told to leave within 24 hours

The district administration diverted floodwaters towards Johi from two sides, as 47 villages are inundated.

DADU: The authorities in Johi issued a final warning on Saturday to residents, asking them to leave the city within 24 hours as traders scrambled to save their goods. The district administration had diverted floodwaters towards Johi from two sides and as many as 47 villages have been inundated. The MNV drain has developed breaches at six points, swamping 15 villages, including Yousuf Solangi, Chanjani, Shah Mir Gadhi, Nabi Buksh Lund, Mian Ismail Khoso, Aziz Kangrani and Talib Jamali, while water coming from Kali Mori hit 10 villages of union council Phulji.  Seventy per cent of the residents of Johi have left the city and evacuation is continuing.

A bus carrying flood victims overturned near the village of Ghulam Hussain Gadhi,  injuring 10 people. The injured were first taken to Johi Hospital, but due to a lack of enough doctors and paramedical staff, the injured were rushed to Dadu Hospital.

A breach in the Superio Bund has widened to 45 feet and the water is fast rushing towards Mehar city. Likewise, the city of Wara now faces a flood threat because of pressure of water on FP Bund and the high flow of water from Gharo drain.

Meanwhile, water level has increased in the Hamal Lake and is flowing over and above the Hamal Regulator. A reduction was expected as the management decided to further open the MNV drain doors of the Hamal Regulator by one foot.

Water level has reduced by 67,000 cusecs at Guddu Barrage and 69,000 cusecs at Sukkur Barrage. The inflow of water at Guddu Barrage is 337,000 cusecs and outflow is 322,000 cusecs. Inflow at Sukkur Barrage is 378,000 cusecs and outflow is 334,000 cusecs. The water level is receding continuously at both barrages.

Meanwhile, in the flooded town of Jati, people began leaving as authorities in Sindh evacuated more people to safety.

Town official Hadi Bakhsh Kalhoro said that about 100 people were stranded in Jati and a rescue effort was underway to evacuate them to safety. Dadu district was flooded on Friday, caused by a breach in the Khudawa canal while other towns, including Khairpur Nathan Shah and Mehar, were also submerged on Saturday.

“Most parts of Khairpur Nathan Shah town and Mehar town and several surrounding villages have been flooded,” Iqbal Memon, district chief of Dadu, told AFP. “Most of the people have been evacuated from these towns and hundreds of those remaining are being helped by the Pakistan navy and local administration,” he said.

However, officials pointed that thousands of tents were still needed. Sindh relief commissioner Ghulam Ali Pasha said that there was a shortage of tents with a further 200,000 people displaced from Khairpur Nathan Shah alone.

“The flood has affected some eight million people in Sindh and some 2.8 million people were displaced,” Pasha told AFP. “Only 1.2 million people are in camps, while the rest have no shelter as we are facing an acute shortage of tents and some 50,000 tents are immediately needed,” he said. He said that the floods had destroyed some 4,600 schools.

Some 800 people in Baid village were stranded and calling for urgent evacuation. “We are sheltered on higher ground in the village, there are about 800 people who are stranded here with their belongings and cattle surrounded by rising water,” villager Bashir Gadahi told AFP by telephone. “This cell phone is the only communication means left and its battery won’t last long. We are calling the authorities, but so far no rescue is in sight,” Gadahi said. “We have no fodder to feed our cattle and our rice and chilli crops have been destroyed by the flood,” he said. (With additional input from AFP)

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2010.