Flood ‘14: Four Sindh districts vulnerable as flood torrents approach

Medium to high floodwaters to pass through Guddu Barrage on Sep 17; govt asks riverine residents to evacuate areas

SUKKUR / HYDERABAD:

After leaving a trail of destruction in Punjab, a medium to high flood torrent is expected to enter Sindh early next week.

Irrigation experts said between 450,000 and 550,000 cusecs of water are expected to pass through Guddu Barrage on September 17 after the torrent enters Sindh. Between 700,000 and 750,000 cusecs of floodwater were earlier expected to pass through Sindh, but a large volume of the torrent has been dispersed after authorities in Punjab blew up protective bunds at various sites, they added.

Districts likely to be most affected by the flood include Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Dadu and Thatta.



Anticipating the torrent, the Sindh government has issued a flood warning and asked residents of katcha (riverine) areas to move to safer places. According to Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon, all the deputy commissioners (DCs) have issued evacuation notices to residents of katcha areas.

Katcha residents, however, said they are not ready to leave since no relief camps have been set up for them by the Sindh government and no transport has been provided for them. In the absence of any arrangements, they said they would rather stay where they are.

On the other hand, Sindh Information Department’s Flood Emergency Cell said concerned district administrations are setting up 304 relief camps and 110 medical camps. More than 400,000 katcha residents in the districts comprising Hyderabad division will be evacuated as the flood approaches the lower Sindh, the cell added.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Dadu DC Nasir Abbas Soomro said they are setting up 149 relief camps and 17 medical camps for some 206,700 likely to be displaced from the district’s 197 villages.

The Jamshoro DC, meanwhile, said 44 relief camps and 15 medical camps are being set up for 66,000 residents for the district’s 87 riverine villages. He added that the provincial disaster management authority is also setting up a ‘tent city’ in Sehwan using some 1,500 tents.

Some 36 relief camps, 14 medical camps and a tent city are also being set up for 25,000 katcha residents in Hyderabad district, according to DC Nawaz Soho. Another 20 relief and 15 medical camps are being set up in Thatta district for 92,000 people from 489 villages.

Meanwhile, 55 relief and 10 medical camps are being set up for an expected 25,000 displaced people from the Matiari and Tando Muhammad Khan districts.

The DCs of Sujawal and Badin, however, have still not figured out how many camps will be required for the displaced people in their districts.

Meanwhile, the Sindh irrigation department has announced it will establish check posts to monitor all bunds in the province. Sources, however, said that while check posts have been established at various places, they are unmanned so far.

Repair work at the Old Tori Bund and K K Bund in Kandhkot-Kashmore district, and the Qadirpur Loop Bund and Katcho Bhindi Bund is also in progress. Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, while visiting various bunds in Ghotki, Khairpur and Kandhkot-Kashmore, expressed displeasure over the standard and pace of repair work, and ordered concerned authorities to complete it within four days.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th, 2014.