- NDMA says death toll from catastrophe reaches 1,391 as 36 die in past 24 hours
KARACHI/HYDERABAD/ISLAMABAD: The authorities on Thursday engaged in hectic efforts to plug a breach in Main Nara Valley Drain — also known as Right Bank Outfall Drain-I (RBOD) to stop gushing water flowing towards Dadu city amid mass evacuations in parts of Sindh while from the death toll from the unprecedented flood rose to 1,391 with 36 more people perished during the past 24 hours.
According to authorities and relief agencies, a breach had occurred in RBOD-I at RD-10, which was expected to ease the risk of flooding in Dadu and Jamshoro districts. However, the situation turned ugly on Thursday flow of water towards Dadu city increased.
PPP MPA Pir Mujeebul Haq, elected from Dadu’s PS-85 constituency, informed that the water is flowing rapidly towards Dadu city. Dadu Deputy Commissioner (DC) Syed Murtaza Ali Shah said additional machinery was being employed to plug the breach, adding that work was also under way to raise embankments to protect the city.
He claimed that 90 percent of the breach had been plugged, expressing the hope that the situation would be brought under control soon.
In recent days, two breaches were deliberately made in Manchhar Lake’s protective dyke to divert the flow of floodwaters draining into it towards less populated areas and prevent flooding in the densely populated cities of Sehwan and Bhan Syedabad.
A Reuters report on Wednesday mentioned that country’s largest freshwater lake was “dangerously close to bursting its banks, even after having been breached in an operation that displaced 100,000 people”. And the threat has lingered even as the water level in the lake dropped, albeit marginally, amid reports of water from the lake continuing to submerge parts of the province.
Earlier on Thursday, PPP MNA Sikandar Ali Rahoupoto said the lake water had flooded over 100 villages in three union councils of the district. DC Fariduddin Mustafa said that water from the lake was flowing towards Tatli and Katohar union councils and in view of a looming threat of flooding in various areas, including Bhan Syedabad town, several families had shifted to safer locations.
According to MNA Rahoupoto, hundreds of people have been evacuated from the area thus far. Earlier, the water from the lake had flooded five union councils of the Sehwan taluka after two breaches were made in its dyke at RD-14 and RD-52.
Another breach planned
On Thursday afternoon, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon told a press conference that the water level in the Indus River near Manchhar was at 120-foot reduced level (RL). He said that it was expected that the water level in the river would reduce by eight to nine feet in the next eight to ten hours. “Once the level reduces, a breach will be made near the river for the discharge of water from Manchhar into the river. And once the discharge starts, it will take around 10 to 15 days to clear the water,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Flood Forecasting Division’s website showed that there was a high-level flood in the river at Kotri Barrage. Sharing these details, Memon said the provincial government’s entire focus at the moment was on Manchhar and River Indus. Moreover, he said the situation was improving in Kashmore and Jacobabad and while floodwaters had also started receding in Qambar, it would take some time before the situation became better there. “The situation will now change within hours,” he added.
Memon further said the provincial authorities had discussed ways to improve the evacuation plan at a meeting today.
Sharing details about efforts, he said Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali had issued directives for the procurement of nutrient supplements for children.
“A meeting of the taskforce [on floods] will now be held on a daily basis to discuss the current situation and plans for evacuations, relief work and water discharge,” he said.
Death toll rises to 1,391 as 36 more die in floods
According to the National Disaster Management Authority, 36 more people perished in the past 24 hours that took the total death count in various incidents to 1,391 and 12,722 individuals got injured since the onset of the rainy season.
The NDMA issued a 24-hour situation report released on routine basis that accounted overall life, property and infrastructure losses incurred by the heavy rains lashing out various parts of the country.
The heavy rains and flash floods caused maximum deaths of 35 individuals in Sindh province including eight men, four women and nine children in Jamshoro, three men, a woman and child in Shaheed Benazirabad, two men in Noushero Feroze, a man and two children died due to electrocution in Badin, a woman died due to collapse of house in Ghotki, two children drowned in pond and a child died due to snake bite in Tando Muhammad Khan.
As many as 33 million of a population of 220 million have been affected in a disaster blamed on climate change that has left hundreds of thousands homeless and caused losses of at least $10 billion, officials estimate.
Meanwhile, large-scale displacements and countries limited resources have led to fears of an impending health crisis.
For its part, the United Nations (UN) has appealed for $160 million in aid to help tackle what it said was an “unprecedented climate catastrophe” and nations have been extending financial and moral support with promises for more.
UN chief to visit Pakistan
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, too, is due in Pakistan on a two-day trip from September 9-10 “to express solidarity with the government and people of Pakistan braving a colossal climate-induced natural disaster caused by unprecedented rains and floods across the country”, a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO) said on Thursday.
During the visit, Guterres will hold meetings with the Pakistani leadership and senior officials to exchange views on the national and global response to the flood catastrophe.
The secretary general will travel to areas most impacted by the climate catastrophe and interact with displaced families and first responders in the field, the FO statement said, adding that he will also oversee the UN’s humanitarian response work in support of the government’s rescue and relief efforts.
“The secretary general’s visit will further raise global awareness about the massive scale of this calamity and the resulting loss of life and widespread devastation. It will contribute towards enhancing commensurate and coordinated international response to the humanitarian and other needs of the 33 million affected Pakistanis,” the FO said.
It added that Guterres had been “consistently stressing the linkage of such disasters with the impacts of climate change and warning the international community about the existential threat to our planet in case climate change is not addressed in a timely and effective manner.
“The secretary general’s visit will also spotlight the importance of sustained international support for Pakistan through the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase, and for building resilience against future climate shocks.”
Mass migration of flood affectees towards Sehwan, Jamshoro begins
Mass migration of flood affectees started in villages around Sehwan and Bhan Saeedabad towns, including Karampur, Bamba and Talti on Thursday.
The majority of these people are moving towards Sehwan and Jamshoro, using private transport such as rickshaws, tractors and even motorcycles. Families, with whatever belongings and livestock they could save from the flood waters, are shifting to safer areas after spending days in inundated regions.
In some areas, with the help of the government, the villagers are trying to strengthen the dykes in an effort to stop the flow of water coming from Manchhar Lake.
The Sindh government had taken the plunge of breaching the Manchhar lake’s bank at various points in a desperate attempt to protect Sehwan and Bhan Saeedabad from flooding, displacing some 125,000 people in five union councils while trying to save over 300,000 others.
Authorities in the Jamshoro district had alerted people to move out as gushing water from the burst embankments of the country’s largest freshwater lake headed fast towards Bhan Saeedabad Taluka after inundating several union councils near Sehwan on Wednesday.
Thousands were stuck and seen sitting on road sides today, waiting for assistance as panic was starting to take hold amongst the populace.
Police have been deployed at various points to control the law-and-order situation. A large number of police officers from Karachi have also reached Dadu and Jamshoro districts after earlier protests by people in several cities and towns of Sindh. The protestors blamed the government for failing to come to their aid.
