Town near Larkana under water; Thatta out of danger

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

By M.B. Kalhoro, Qurban Khushik and Iqbal Khwaja
Tuesday, 31 Aug, 2010
LARKANA: Floodwaters entered on Monday Gaji Khuhawar, a town of 40,000 people in Qambar-Shahdadkot district, and were mounting pressure on Warah town.

After breaches in Naseer branch and Ghar drain at the Abdul Rahim Chandio village, floodwaters accumulated in a pocket between Mirwah and Kariyo Sabar Khan, near Warah, posing a threat to the town along with waters overtopping the Supro dyke at Garhi village.

Most of the people of Gaji Khuhawar had been evacuated. District Coordination Officer (DCO) Yaseen Shar expressed the hope that efforts to save Warah would succeed.

In reply to a question about disagreement between the elected representatives from Qambar-Shahdadkot and Dadu about the path of the floodwaters, he said the political leadership had been asked to let the waters follow their natural route, as had been done in 2007. The DCO warned of ‘colossal losses’ in case the natural flow was obstructed.

The DCO said influential people, including political leaders, had built embankments and hurdles in Dadu district near Dhamraho Wah, impeding the flow of water.

DADU: Waters coming from Shahdadkot through Hamal lake inundated Chhore-Qambar, Big Buriro, Miani, Aliwal and Gozo towns in Khairpur Nathan Shah taluka on Monday. Several mud houses collapsed and grain stocks and animals were washed away.

Thousands of people arrived at Supro bund without any belongings. About 70,000 people were affected in the towns and villages between Supro dyke and an embankment in Khairpur Nathan Shah.

About 25,000 people of Gozo town could not be evacuated because of lack of transport. The Gozo-Big Buriro road was inundated.

Water entered houses in Gozo after inundating the streets and people climbed on rooftops to save themselves.

Water pressure at Supro bund near Gozo posed a threat to Khairpur Nathan Shah town. Shahmir Gadehi of Chhore-Qambar said about 200 villagers were stranded by the sudden flow of floodwaters that engulfed their homes.

Tension gripped Mehar town after heavy water flows created leakages in the Dhamrah Wah embankment at two places. The leakages were plugged by local people and irrigation workers.

Tension was witnessed between legislators from Dadu and Qambar-Shahdadkot at Dhamrah Wah.

The administration and legislators of Qambar-Shahdadkot wanted to cut Dhamrah Wah near Mehar to drain more waters towards Mehar, but PPP leader Kazi Shafique Mahesar and leaders of other parties, including former minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi, resisted the move.

Dozens of armed men took up positions along the Dhamrah Wah embankment from Khadhar to Ghari village to foil any attempt to make an artificial breach.

Minister of State Rafique Ahmed Jamali inspected the construction of an embankment around Johi town as waters gushing from the Main Nara Valley drain reached Dingar road.

THATTA: Floodwaters surging from the Kot Almo breach spread over an area of 1,290 square kilometres.

After inundating a naval airbase, the Thatta-Badin road, a grid station, the Jati link road and Sujawal town, the waters were streaming towards Golarchi taluka of Badin district, official sources said.

At least 987 scattered settlements and 82 villages were submerged near Sujawal and Belo towns.

Of the over 600,000 people displaced from the area, about 400,000 were camping on Makli hill, Jang Shahi, Jhampir and Ghulamullah link roads and along the Hyderabad-Karachi highway.

Army’s engineering corps plugged the 70-metre breach in the Faqir Jo Goth embankment, saving Thatta from inundation.

A representative of a non-government organisation said over 200 people were marooned in a village near Belo and an old woman had died.

Hadi Bux Kalhoro, the focal person of the district disaster committee, and several other administration and law-enforcement officials were trapped in floodwaters along Darro branch while they were going for rescue work on a motorboat. They remained stranded amid strong winds and heavy currents of water for about four hours before being rescued by troops.

Floodwaters were also gushing towards the coastal town of Chuhar Jamali after inundating the Deewan and Laar sugar mills and several villages.

NORMALITY: Normalcy was gradually returning to Thatta town as people started returning from Makli, where they had taken shelter in view of a threat of flooding.

In Makli, about 250 displaced people surrounded the local police station and pelted vehicles with stones in protest against inadequate relief activities.

The Army’s General Officer Commanding, Shoukat Iqbal, was told that 5,000 tents were being provided to the displaced people by law-enforcement agencies within two days and the UN was providing 10,000 tents.