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Authorities save Dadu city, Bhan Syedabad from flood threat

Authorities save Dadu city, Bhan Syedabad from flood threat

Authorities save Dadu city, Bhan Syedabad from flood threat

A three-kilometre bund has been raised to protect the Dadu grid station from floodwaters within 36 hours.


A team of doctors travel to flooded areas in a boat, following rains and floods during the monsoon season, in Manjhand town, in Jamshoro on Monday. — Reuters

The residents of Dadu breathed a sigh of relief on Monday as water levels around the city began to recede, but a new wave of rain has added to the problems of people in the flood-affected areas of Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas divisions.


Lake Manchar, the country's largest freshwater lake, has been the biggest source of danger, prompting authorities to breach security embankments and other structures along its routes in order to divert water flow to less populated areas and try to prevent flooding in densely populated areas


Dadu and Bhan Syedabad, which had been facing the threat of flooding from Lake Manchhar for the past few days, were relieved as the water level outside the protective ring embankments had receded slightly.


However, the reduction of water pressure in the two towns in Dadu district was made possible after several cuts were made to the Indus highway and the Larkana-Sehwan embankment to divert water to the Indus river.


Officials have increased the release of water in the Indus River after its level dropped by 19,500 cusecs in the last 12 hours. The Indus recorded an upstream 607,800 cusecs at 6 am on Monday, which fell to 588,300 cusecs by 6 pm after peaking at 626,000 cusecs.


A fall of about 1.5 feet was recorded at Johi Town and around 2 foot at Ring Bund around Meher taluka. The country's largest freshwater lake, Manchhar, which has been overflowing for the past few weeks, also saw a slight drop in its level.


Although the major urban centers of Dadu and Jamshoro districts appear evading flood, the rural areas of both districts, like other districts of Sindh, have less than eight feet of water.


Both the government and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have blamed climate change for the extreme weather that triggered the floods that inundated large areas of the country's 220 million population.


The vital electricity station, in the district of Dadu in the southern province of Sindh, one of the country's worst affected areas, supplies power to six provincial districts. The station was protected by authorities against a growing threat of flooding.


Flooded Area Dadu - AFP

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who visited Sehwan and his native village Wahar by boat on Monday, told local media, "Around 10 union councils of Sehwan have been submerged due to cuts in Manchhar."


"If we hadn't made the cuts, the lake, which had expanded 10 times its original size, would have breached itself and the devastation would have been far worse," Shah said. He further said that the manchhar was dropped after the authorities cut the lake’s banks at five places.


Shah also visited a relief camp at the Arhal distributary near Sehwan. took an eventful boat ride to his ancestral village. On the way to Wahar, the Chief Minister also stopped at other flood-affected villages.


Sindh is where record monsoon rains and floodwaters from melting glaciers in the mountainous north and mountain torrents from Balochistan have met and are wreaking havoc on all sides after a series of deaths and destruction.


According to Sehwan Assistant Commissioner Iqbal Hussain, 450 villages in seven union councils of the tehsil were inundated by water from Lake Manchhar.


In a meeting held to review the rescue and relief operations in the flood-affected areas, Sindh chief Minister Murad Ali Shah was informed that 371,440 patients had been brought to the health camps established across the province.


“Of these, 18,804 reported gastro-related diseases, 20,968 skin related, 8,731 had malaria (suspected), 80 dengue (suspected), and 43,903 complained of other issues,” a press release issued by the CM House said.


According to an update issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), on the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the restoration of roads and electricity supply in the flood-affected areas is ongoing on an emergency basis.


The PMO said in a tweet that the Prime Minister himself was monitoring the repair work and reports were being sent to him daily.


So far, sections of the Gwadar-Ratodero Motorway (M-8) have been opened for one-way traffic and the landslide-hit Wango Hill has been cleared.


In addition, A 132 KW transmission line at Timergara was repaired and operations had been started again at the Bajaur and Munda grid stations.


The PMO told that power was being supplied to Bhan Syedabad from alternative sources and Warrah was being supplied from the Qambar grid station.










References: Dawn.com, Tribune.com.pk, Geo.tv 

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