QUETTA/LAHORE: At least 18 people, including nine children, were killed and several others injured in rain-related incidents in different areas of Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday as downpour and thunderstorm continued to lash various parts of the country.

Big cracks developed in over two dozen houses in Quetta’s Musa colony because of landslip caused by flash flood and hill torrents. A large number of people have left their houses and moved to safe areas over the past week as rain lashed Balochistan.

The Provincial Disaster Manage­ment Authority (PDMA) shifted several families to government buildings and provided them relief goods, including food and blankets.

Officials confirmed the death toll and said the continual heavy rains were causing flash floods, collapsing of mud-houses and damage to roads, affecting traffic between different district headquarters of Balochistan.

“Ten people, including a woman and four minor girls, were killed and 12 others injured in rain-related incidents in Balochistan,” PDMA Director General Zahid Saleem told Dawn.

According to the official, a woman and her four daughters died on Friday morning when the roof of their mud-house in Shna Ponga village of Sherani district caved in. Four others were injured.

A man, his two grandsons and two granddaughters were killed and three others injured when the roof of their house collapsed in village Ajizai Saidaan area of Pishin district on Friday night. The inju­red included two women and a child.

Four people were killed due to lightning in Mastung, Chagai and Loralai.

One person was killed when the wall of a house collapsed in Quetta.

In Loralai, four girls were injured when the roof of a classroom caved in.

Five villages were affected by flash floods in Mastung. Six mud-houses collapsed in Chaman and Qila Abdullah. However, no casualty was reported from these areas.

Several mud-houses were damaged in village Higwani after it was hit by hill torrents. According to sources, the affected families have been shifted to safe places.

The rain has deprived people in Molla area of Khuzdar district of their livestock. “Twenty-four goats and sheep have been washed away in Molla river. The river is carrying heavy flood threatening downstream areas of Jhal Magsi and Gandawah,” the sources said.

Heavy rains and thunderstorm were also reported in Khuzdar, Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Pishin, Ziarat, Loralai, Barkhan, Dera Bugti, Kohlu, Qila Saifullah, Chaman, Zhob, Sibi, Kalat, Mastung, Jhal Magsi and Lasbela.

The PDMA director general said relief goods, including food and tents, had been sent to Qila Abdullah. He said the PDMA had set up a central control room which was working round the clock. Control rooms had also been set up at divisional and district levels, he added.

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA: One person was killed as persistent rain in the plains and snowfall on the mountains battered Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata on Friday.

Twelve-year-old Nadeem Akbar died and four others suffered injuries when the roof of their house collapsed in Tank.

The Karakoram Highway was closed to traffic due to landslides. Snowfall was reported in Shangla, Swat and Lowari Top.

SINDH: Coupled with thunderstorm and hailstorm, a heavy spell of rain hit Sukkur, Rohri, Kandhra, Sangi, Pannu Aqil, Naushahro Feroze, Moro, Darya Khan Marri, Pad Idan, Phul, Tharoshah and several other cities and towns of upper and central Sindh on Friday evening.

The sky over most districts of the province remained cloudy or partly cloudy over the past 24 hours, but only a few districts received heavy rain.

While light drizzle was reported from some parts of Larkana, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Kandhkot-Kashmore and Shikarpur districts, southern parts of the province remained mostly dry.

System moves ahead

The strong weather system currently gripping the country moved ahead on Friday after unleashing more rain, heavy at places, over Balochistan, producing downpour over vast areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

The heaviest rain – 50 millimetres – in Punjab was recorded in Jhang.

A woman and her daughter were killed in Kehror Lal Essan, Layyah, when the roof of their dilapidated house caved in.

The system generated rain over central and northeastern Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and also Azad Kashmir. And the Met department expected it to get stronger on Friday night and produce more rain, heavy at places, over the next 36 hours.

By 7pm on Friday, Jhelum received 46mm of rain, Mandi Bahauddin 39mm, Sargodha 29mm, Gujranwala 25mm, Muree 23mm, Islamabad and Sialkot 22mm each, Multan 21mm, Faisalabad 20mm, Rawalpindi 19mm, Dera Ghazi Khan and Layyah 17mm each, Toba Tek Singh 14mm, Noorpurthal 12mm, Mianwali 11mm, Kot Addu 8mm, Chakwal, Johrabad, Shorkot and Lahore (PBO) 7mm each, Sialkot Cantt 2mm, Gujrat and Kasur 1mm each, Dera Ismail Khan and Malamjabba 28mm each, Lower Dir 21mm, Upper Dir 20mm, Cherat 18mm, Bannu and Kohat 17mm each, Balakot 13mm, Saidu Sharif, Peshawar city and Kakul 11mm each, Saidu Sharif 10mm, Pattan 9mm, Peshawar Airport 8mm, Drosh and Risalpur 4mm each, Kalam and Parachinar 3mm each, Rawalakot 34mm, Kotli 26mm, Muzaffarabad 21mm and Garhidupatta 17mm.

In Balochistan, the departing system gave 32mm of rain in Kalat, 21mm in Zhob, 17mm in Quetta, 8mm in Samungli, 14mm in Barkhan, 11mm in Panjgur, 6mm in Nokkundi, 5mm in Dalbanadin and 3mm in Sibbi.

The Met department’s forecast for the next 24 hours indicated widespread rain-thundershower, accompanied by strong winds (with isolated hailstorm) in Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata, Islamabad and upper Punjab (Sargodha, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sahiwal divisions).

Scattered heavy rain, at times very heavy, is expected in upper KP (Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar, Mardan and Kohat divisions), Fata, Kashmir, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions.

Rain-thundershower, accompanied by strong winds, is expected at scattered places in Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions and Gilgit-Baltistan, while at isolated places in Bahawalpur, Quetta, Zhob, Kalat and Makran divisions and Sindh.

Meanwhile, the Chief Relief Commissioner of Punjab, Zahid Saeed, made all control rooms functional for monitoring the flow of water in storm water channels in the province. He said the Punjab Disaster Management Authority was ready to meet any eventuality to be caused by expected heavy rain in the province.

Our Peshawar Bureau and Correspondents in different cities in Sindh contributed to the report

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2016