QUETTA, Aug 7: Several thousand mine workers and villagers were stranded in coalmine areas of Margat and villages in Bolan and Sibi districts after flash floods inundated vast areas.

According to reports reaching here, at least three people were killed and around a dozen were missing in the flood-affected areas in the two districts.

Official sources confirmed the grave situation in several parts of Bolan and Sibi and said several land communications had been completely cut off with most of the roads washed away by torrents.

“Over 35 villages around the Sibi township have been submerged and large portions of roads linking Sibi with the villages have been washed away,” District Coordination Officer Shakeel Ahmed told Dawn. He said that heavy monsoon rains had hit the Sibi district quite hard.

He said that over 250 houses had collapsed in the villages. One woman was killed in Luni village when the roof of her house caved in. Her husband was seriously injured and was admitted to the CMH Sibi.

A bridge linking Luni and Khajak villages was washed while the flood protection dam in Lehri area was under severe pressure.” The flood protection dam is under great pressure as more flood water was hitting the area,” the DCO said, adding that the project had been completed last year at a cost of around Rs 800 million. “The dam is in danger,” he said adding that the worst affected areas included Tali.

He also confirmed that hundreds of small dams built storing rain water for irrigation in the arid areas of Sibi district had been destroyed or damaged. He said that standing cotton crop and vegetable fields had been inundated.

The DCO said that the district administration was striving to rescue the marooned people. The local administration, he added, was distributing tents and ration provided by the relief commissioner of Balochistan. “A large number of people have become homeless,” he said.

“At least 32 villages in Mal, Chandia, Khajak and Luni union councils have been submerged,” Mir Mohammad Aslam Gishkori, Nazim of the Mal union council, said, adding that over 100 houses had been damaged. Road communication has been badly affected and the villages have been completely cut off.

Reports reaching from Bolan district said that heavy rains had caused havoc in various areas with hill torrents having washed away roads linking the coalmine town of Mach with Margat coalfield. Thousands of mine workers are stranded in the area.

“Margat coalfield has been cut off from the Mach town with road linking them is under water,” sources said. They said that a large number of mine workers were also stranded in Surrang and Marwar areas which had been cut off from Quetta and other areas after four days of downpour.

Our Peshawar Bureau adds: Heavy rains and flash floods have killed 144 people and rendered hundreds of thousands homeless in the NWFP.

Provincial Relief Commissioner Fazl-i-Rabbi said at a press conference here on Monday that 16 districts have been affected due to ongoing torrential rains and Charsadda district was the worst affected among them.

Giving details of the human losses and infrastructure damages, he said, that 3,900 houses were damaged in Charsadda alone, while seven people were killed in the district.

In Mardan district, relief commissioner said that 45 people were killed in the bridge collapse incident, while revenue staff and district authorities were collecting data about the houses collapsed and partially damaged.

“According to conservative official estimates 10,000 to 15,000 houses have damaged in Mardan city and its surrounding areas due to high flood in Kalpani stream”, Mr Rabbi said.

He said that search operation for the missing people was still in progress. The government had released funds to the Mardan district government to compensate to the bereaved families, he said.

He informed that flash floods and rains had killed 39 people in Mansehra district, 13 in Karak, seven in Lower Dir, one in Abbottabad and 10 in Batgram.

A handout issued here said that Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani presided over an emergency meeting to review the devastations caused by the ongoing heavy rains and floods and relief measures being taken in this respect.

He approved Rs50 millions each for Works & Services and Irrigation sectors and Rs30 millions for purchase of heavy machinery for disaster management.

SIX KILLED IN BALTISTAN: Six people were killed in flash floods and rain-related incidents while 27 houses damaged in different parts of Baltistan, our correspondent adds from Skardu.