KARACHI: Several villages along Sindh coast were partially affected by the tidal waves rising under the influence of Kyarr — a super cyclonic storm — which is expected to start losing its intensity on Tuesday (today), according to the Met department.

It has forecast light to moderate rain in lower Sindh and along the Makran coast on Wednesday and Friday.

The Sindh government imposed Section 144 of the criminal procedure code on all beaches. The provincial local government ministry issued an advisory to the authorities in Karachi, Thatta, Badin and Sujawal to take all precautionary and preparatory measures to avoid any danger to human life and properties.

The last super cyclonic storm in the Arabian Sea occurred in June 2007. It was named Gonu.

“Right now, it’s highly intense surrounded by winds having speed of up to 250-279km per hour. Luckily, however, it’s far away around 750km southwest of Karachi,” said Sardar Sarfaraz of the Met department. He said that since the cyclone had moved further west-northwestward, it was not likely to hit Oman but redirect towards Yemen by Wednesday.

The official said he didn’t think that flooding in coastal villages was directly caused by the cyclone since it was far away from the coast. “There could be multiple factors causing flooding for which we need a detailed scientific study. Immediately, I could only say that it might be caused due to the influence of strong winds creating forceful waves making their way into the low-lying residential areas.”

According to Mr Sarfaraz, the cyclone hasn’t caused any damage anywhere so far as it has remained in the open sea, away from the land. Kyaar, he pointed out, could be described as unusual in the sense that it developed in the post-monsoon period (October-November) as historically cyclones of this intensity were reported in the monsoon period.

Mr Sarfaraz rejected ‘reports’ circulating on social media that more cyclones were building up in the region and said it was premature to make such statements. “While there is a low pressure area over the east central Arabian Sea, the same location where Kyarr built up, this weather system needs to achieve a certain level of intensity to be called a very severe or super cyclonic storm, which all depends on environmental conditions,” he noted. These environmental conditions included favourable sea surface temperature and vertical wind shear, which Kyarr had received so far, he explained.

According to a Met department advisory, none of the Pakistan coastal area is under direct threat from this system. It has advised fishermen not to venture in deep sea for the next few days.

Flooding

Minor flooding was experienced in several coastal villages/settlements in Sindh as seawater entered houses in areas including Lat Basti, Mubarak village, Chamsha Goth, Suleman Goth, Abdur Rehman Goth, Shams Pir and Baba and Bhit islands.

Seawater also made its way into parts of the DHA Golf Club in Phase VIII and the Karachi Boat Club in Clifton.

“Ten localities out of 16 in Rehri union council experienced flooding. All jetties in Ibrahim Hyderi have been submerged, though houses are not affected. We are expecting that the situation would deteriorate tonight (Monday),” said Kamal Shah, an official of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, adding that the organisation had received similar reports from other parts of lower Sindh.

Asked about fishermen at sea, he said that almost all had returned after they were alerted about the emerging cyclone by the Pakistan Navy.

Precautionary measures

The local government ministry’s advisory directed the mayor and municipal commissioner of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, chairmen and municipal commissioners of six district municipal corporations in Karachi, chairman and chief officer of the District Council Karachi, managing directors of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board and Sindh Solid Waste Management Board and chairmen, chief municipal officers and town officers of municipal committees and town committees of Thatta, Badin and Sujawal districts to take a host of measures to protect human life and properties in areas on the coastal belt of Sindh.

It asked for de-silting of nullahs, removal of garbage and debris and proper collection and disposal of garbage to the designated landfills.

“Public awareness campaign may be initiated through print and electronic media, all manholes should be properly covered, proper installation of signboards or billboards in cities, and pumping stations should be well equipped to drain rainwater. Proper sprays may also be carried out through vehicles as well as through fogging machines to avoid possible spread of epidemics and infectious diseases,” said the advisory.

High alert

The Balochistan government also issued a high alert in the coastal areas of Gwadar, Pasni, Ormara and Makran which were affected by cyclone Kyarr. It directed the relevant authorities to take necessary measures to avoid any danger to human life and properties.

Abdullah Dakarzai village in the Gadani area of Lasbela district was cut off from other areas after seawater submerged it. A large number of people were stranded in the village waiting for rescue operation.

Strong gusty winds coupled with high tides lashed the coastal town of Gwadar. A portion of the under-construction Eastbay Expressway came under seawater which also entered houses in some slum areas of the town.

The chief minister directed the authorities concerned to be prepared to deal with any kind of emergency in the coastal areas of Balochistan.

Saleem Shahid from Quetta and Behram Baloch from Gwadar also contributed to this story

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2019