Flood havoc: Pir Adil dyke breach inundates 7 villages

Residents of the area have been asked to evacuate immediately

DERA GHAZI KHAN:

Raging flood water on Thursday breached a safety embankment near Pir Adil, inundating several villages and drowning thousands of acres of agricultural land.

Marhata, Shanba, Markand, Rawan, Ladan, Bhatti Maitla, Beat Sandaila, Dastiwala, Jogiwala and Basti Khar were inundated following the breach.

Residents of the area were asked to evacuate immediately. However, no relief camps had been set up and a rescue operation had not started until this report was filed. Some villagers were evacuating the area on their own but hundreds of villagers were reportedly stranded.

Earlier, Dera Ghazi Khan DCO Nadeemur Rehman said survey of the area affected by the flood had begun.

He said committees had been formed under the supervision of the assistant commissioners to assess damage to crops and houses.

He said committees had also been formed to address complaints of families affected by the flood.

He said 18,700 people had been displaced due to the flood last week. He said 14,500 had been moved to safe areas. The DCO said 27 relief camps had been set up in various parts of the district. He said 1,464 people were housing in these camps.

The DCO said 4,617 tents, 10,600 bags of dry ration and 3,500 bags of flour had been distributed.

He said 2,000 plastic mats and 3,000 mosquito nets had been distributed at the camps.

He said 335,583 cattle were vaccinated and 13,322 persons were given medical treatment.

MPA Sardar Sher Ali Gorchani visited Rajanpur to review the flood situation in the district.

Gorchani said the government had utilised maximum resources to facilitate those affected by the flood.

He said the district government was evacuating residents from flooded areas. He advised district authorities to ensure evacuation of the people where heavy rains had been forecasted. He said the government would continue relief activities till the crisis was over.

Later, he visited the family of Ghulam Shabbir Jiskani, who had drowned in flood water at UC Rakka. He gave them Rs500,000 aid.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2015.