The heavy rains triggered a flash flood in Balochistan and Sindh, causing widespread devastation across the two provinces as some 500 villages in Naseerabad district were submerged under water, according to reports.
So far, the flood has affected 7,361 people, damaged 3,357 acres of agriculture land and about 2,300 houses in various districts of Balochistan, Sindh and the Punjab.
Provincial governments, PDMAs, Army and Frontier Corps have launched joint rescue and relief operations for people trapped in the rain-battered areas of the provinces, said Balochistan focal person on floods and Secretary Information Technology Akbar Hussain Durrani here at the DPR office on Wednesday.
He said that 11 districts, including Qilla Saifullah, Lorali, Zhob, Shirani Musa Khail, Khuzdar, Jhal Magsi, Jaffarabad, Naseerabad, Dera Bugti, Sibi and Lasbella, were badly affected by the flash floods caused by the heavy downpour.
Referring to the inconvenience caused to private and public transporters due to the suspension of the road network, Durrani said that restoration of damaged portions of roads was the government’s top priority. After repairing the damaged portions, the Quetta-Zhob-Dera Ismail Khan Road and Quetta-Lorali, Dera Ghazi Khan Road linking Balochistan with the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had been restored while work was underway on the Och National Highway in Notal to restore the road that connects Balochistan with Sindh.
Meanwhile, gushing water breached the embankment of seasonal Nullahs following heavy rains, inundating several villages near the Rajanpur area. The flood damaged the standing crops and residential settlements, a private news channel reported.
Thousands of homeless people took shelter along the roadside after losing their homes.
A 14-year-old boy died when a rescue boat carrying affected families capsized. A rescue operation was kicked off in the Rojhan area of Rajanpur where several villages were inundated by the floodwater. Rescue 1122 teams were shifting the affected villagers to safer places.
Meanwhile, two children died when the roof of their house collapsed. According to the local police, the incident occurred in the limits of the Sibi city police station. A man was also injured in the incident.
Meanwhile, the ISPR said that the Pakistan Army had rescued over 1,200 flood-affected people and shifted them to safer places through MI-17 and boats in Naseerabad and surrounding areas in the last two days. The army has employed 860 troops, 6 Army Aviation helicopters, 60 motor boats, 12 dewatering pumps and engineering equipment for rescue and relief activities at the flash flood-affected areas of Dera Ghazi Khan, Sukkur, Larkana, Kandhkot, Kashmore, Zhob, Kalat, Sibi, Dera Murad Jamali and Naseerabad. Troops were immediately moved to the flood-affected areas on the request of the civil administration.
Army engineers have plugged six breaches in Dera Ghazi Khan. As many as 200 tents and 20,000 dry food packets were distributed in Naseeraabad and adjacent areas of Dera Murad Jamali through six sorties of MI-17 on Wednesday. Food was also provided to over 5,000 affected people in Dera Murad Jamali, Rajanpur and Rojhan.
Friday 14 September 2012
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-17436-30-bodies-recovered-from-flood-hit-areas-in-Balochistan
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