THATTA: The surging Indus flowing at 916,000 cusecs downstream Kotri on Wednesday developed leakages in four protective dykes — Old Surjani, Budhka, Wasi Malook Shah and Saangh Miani — prompting hasty evacuation of people from the areas.

The leakages were plugged manually in a few hours.

The swelling Indus inundated a vast kutcha area from Pathan Colony along its right bank to Damdamo on the left. Erosion of Aghimani and Faqir jo Goth dykes, about four kilometers from Thatta town, was also reported.

At least 56 villages have been inundated along with crops of banana, sugarcane, paddy, watermelon, sunflower and cotton over hundreds o acres and the newly rehabilitated Panhwar forest and other small forests.

At least three brick kilns were also under water.

A large number of vans, bullock carts, donkey carts and camels loaded with people and household items were seen moving from the flooded areas towards safe places.

Alarming reports about the Old Surjani dyke, one of the most vulnerable, has led to migration of a majority of families from Sujawal, Daro, Mirpur Bathoro to Thatta, Hyderabad, Karachi and other areas.

A team of journalists saw a makeshift village near Surjani where displaced people, most of them in tattered clothes, were sitting on cots, surrounded by their cattle, watching a TV run by a battery and discussing local politics.

Belo, a town of over 15,000 people along the left bank of the Indus, was deserted.

An irrigation official said the water level at Kotri was gradually becoming ‘stable’.

Mohammad Hussain Khan adds from Hyderabad: A flow of 938,438 cusecs was recorded at the barrage on Wednesday night and the authorities may declare the end of the peak level of floods in 24 hours.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani visited the Kotri barrage on Wednesday and was briefed about the situation by Chief Secretary Fazalur Rehman and chief engineer Manzoor Sheikh.

Erosion and seepage were reported at some embankments.

Water level at the Dadu-Moro bridge continued to drop. “It is 131.7RL, down from its highest level of 132.3RL during the past few days,” Mr Sheikh said.

He said the sea was slowly accepting river waters. “If there is high tide for six hours, it is low over the next hours,” he said.