SUKKUR: A mother of three and a boy were killed when roofs of their houses caved in due to continuous heavy rain in Sukkur district on Sunday, raising the death toll to 11 since the monsoon rain had started.

The mother of three children died when ceiling of her house collapsed on her while she was preparing breakfast for the family in Ahmed Nagar area, said Imran, the woman’s husband.

In a similar incident, nine-year-old Faiq Ahmed Memon was buried alive and died under the debris of his house’s ceiling which fell on him in Brohi locality in New Pind area. Nine people had so far died in rain-related incidents in the district.

Relief camp set up

A relief camp was set up at Hallar Memon Hall on Bandar Road on the directive of Deputy Inspector General of Police Jawed Jiskani.

Talking to media persons, the DIG said that teams of doctors and paramedical staff had been deputed at the camp which had a capacity of over 50 beds and more than 300 rain-hit patients could be treated there at a time. Sukkur police had been directed to rescue people and shift them to safe places, he said.

Rain-hit families move into vacant flats

Several rain-affected families took refuge in vacant flats in Labor Colony in SITE area as continuous rain for about four days had completely inundated their localities and municipal authorities had not been able to drain out the stagnant rainwater.

Residents of Qureshi Goth, Micro Colony, New Pind, New Goth, Gulshan-i-Iqbal and other localities held protests against the city administration for its failure to drain out stagnant water from their areas.

Sindh Minister for Industry Jam Ikramullah Dharejo visited flooded areas of Sukkur and directed officials concerned to drain out rainwater on a war-footing. Every minster and member of Pakistan Peoples Party had been tasked to personally help rain-hit people in their constituencies, he said.

In Ghotki district, Shank bund developed 300-foot wide breach, inundating several villages and farmland. Continuous rain had caused flooding in villages and town, forcing people to move to safe places.

Trains’ operation suspended

Pakistan Railways on Sunday suspended operation of several trains due to torrential rains in Sindh and Balochistan.

Jaffar and Bolan Expresses bound for Quetta and Shah Hussain and Pak-Business bound for Lahore were stopped, said a railway official at Rohri, adding that more trains were likely to be stopped if weather conditions deteriorated further.

Scores of more villages flooded

DADU: As many as 70 more villages were flooded after breaches in dykes of various waterways emanating from the Main Nara Valley (MVN) Drain at three different places in Mehar, Khairpur Nathan Shah and Johi talukas of Dadu district on Sunday.

A 100-foot-wide breach occurred in the dyke of the drain at Acher village near Khairpur Nathan Shah. It flooded 20 villages and vast farmland.

Another 100-foot-wide breach developed in the drain’s dyke at Chappar Jamali village in Johi taluka late Saturday night and widened to 200 feet due to pressure of water causing flooding in more than 30 other villages.

Gushing water was threatening areas of Kamal Khan union council.

Johi Assistant Commissioner Mohammad Ali Baloch along with local Wapda officials visited the breach site and supervised the plugging work.

He told local reporters that water flows were moving to Manchhar Lake. Immense pressure of water was hampering efforts to plug the breach, he added.

About 20 more villages were flooded after yet another 100-foot-wide breach in the dykes of the drain took place in Raza Mohammad Rind village in Mangwani union council area near Mehar town.

Affected families were seen moving to safe dry areas from their villages to escape losses.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2022