Floods uproot 0.4 million

KARACHI - The continued intermittent rains and breaches in the canals have displaced over 0.4 million people in southern parts of Sindh.
A breach in Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD), which falls in sea in Badin district, has submerged hundreds of villages.
According to information gathered by TheNation, thousands of affectees are sitting alongside the roads at temporarily relief camps without government help. At some camps set up by the government in Badin district, people have no food and water facilities.
Meanwhile, Sindh Minister for Rehabilitation, Muzaffar Ali Shujra, while talking to media at an Iftar party given in honour of the mediamen here in city, said around 3-4 lakh people have been affected. He said 25 people including 12 in Mirpurkhas district only, lost their lives while 140 sustained injuries.
However, the minister said that provincial government had declared Badin, Thatta and Tando Mohammed Khan as calamity-hit districts, which have been devastated by monsoon rains and the situation aggravated after breaches in canals.
Shujra pointed out that the provincial government had released Rs10 million for relief to affectees. He said 120 tonne of rice and other essential items have been sent to the devastated areas while 1,000 tents have also been dispatched. The minister said that Rangers have been asked to assist the civilian institutions to help the affectees. He said the concerned district coordination officers have been directed to conduct survey of the destruction.
Besides Mirpurkhas, Tando Muhammad Khan and Thatta districts are also worst-affected by rains and breaches in canals, leaving thousands of people displaced. The government authorities were so far unsuccessful to reach the affected people in the rains-hit areas.
Agencies add: Army is actively engaged in relief activities in Tando Mohammad Khan. According to NDMA, 200,000 people have been affected by floods in interior Sindh.
A breach developed in the biggest saline nullah of, LBOD, has widened to 200 feet and inundated more than 100 villages of the district Badin on Monday.
According to reports, due to overflowing and reverse flow in the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) there is fear of more breaches and more flooding. Flood water inundated a grid station in Pangrio as well.
The authorities concerned are yet to plug breaches that have flooded a vast area and washed away standing crops on hundreds of thousands of acres of land.
A large number of people are still marooned in the far-flung coastal villages of Badin district, with no road link to safer areas.
So far thousands of people have been rescued and shifted to relief camps by Pak Army and Navy personnel.
The camps set up by the district administration lack basic facilities including food.
The Army troops have moved to safer places some 200 families in the rain-affected areas of Badin district, stated an official of the ISPR on Monday. The Army doctors and para-medical staff provided medical assistance to about 500 people in the area.
In Tando Muhammad Khan, the troops are assisting in the de-watering of the low-lying areas and more than 15 pumps have been installed.
The district administration of Tharparkar has set up 122 relief camps at different places for rain-hit people of Thar and Badin.
The DCO Tharparkar Shakeel-uz-Zaman, talking to media here on Monday, said more than 16,000 people had been affected due to heavy rains in Thar.
The district administration is trying its level best to provide maximum facilities to the victims.
He said, besides Thar, a large number of people have come here from Badin coastal belt as their area is also affected due to heavy rains.
We are trying to accommodate all victims and providing them food and medical aid at relief camps, the DCO added.
Meanwhile, the flood in Nullah Daik destroyed thousands of acres of rice crop in Narowal and Pasroor on Monday.
The flood entered Ahmedabad Fort where streets and neighbourhoods were inundated and at least 40 surrounding villages were also affected.
The water was taken out from Ahmedabad Fort but broke a temporary dam and 12 villages in Narowal district were flooded. Due to flood, rice and other crops were submerged in water.
People living in these villages said they had been suffering due to wrong polices of the Nullah Daik management for years.
Meanwhile, a bridge linking Muridke to Narowal was washed away in the flood. District management teams along with officials from Rescue 1122 were busy in helping the affected people.
People have appealed to the government to take notice of destruction to their crops.