HYDERABAD: Heavy rains battered vast swathes of the countryside in Sindh during the first three days of Eid, killing 52 people, breaching canals and flooding vast stretches of farmland. The spell came as a bolt from the blue for the countless still living in makeshift shelters after last year’s floods rendered them homeless.

The rain spelt misery for many farmers as it devastated cotton, rice paddies and vegetable crops.

The relentless spell wiped out a big number of villages after breaches in canals and saline drains left them at the mercy of the rampaging waters. Thatched houses collapsed, rendering thousands of the poor shelterless and forced to seek refuge in relief camps.

The irrigation network did not escape nature’s fury and suffered breaches at a number of points. Sehwan taluka bore the brunt of the onslaught with breaches at eight places.

Ten people died in Benazirabad, eight in Umerkot, five in Naushahro Feroze, four each in Dadu, Tando Allahyar and Mirpurkhas, three each in Shikarpur and Sanghar, two each in Khairpur and Tharparkar districts and one in Hyderabad city.

The rains wreaked havoc in Benazirabad district, leading to death of 10 people and injuring over 20 others.

Four people died and two were injured in Dadu district when roofs and walls of their houses collapsed on them during heavy rains over the last couple of days.

The rain damaged irrigation network and led to breaches in Dhamrah Wah, Rajwah, Mado Shakh, Saeedpur Shakh, Langhano Shakh, Noorja Shakh, Daim branch and Bambha Shakh in Sehwan taluka, which flooded 30 villages and crops of paddy, cotton and vegetables on thousands of acres.

Five breaches occurred in Sim Shakh near the villages of Sultan Bhatti, Qaim Khoso, Khali Charo, Chandkai Mahessar and Karam Chandio, inundating 20 villages and paddy crop on over 5,000 acres.

Over 400 thatched houses collapsed in Dadu, 200 in Johi, 300 in Bhan Syedabad and 300 in Sehwan town and three to four feet rainwater stagnated in different parts of the towns. Hill torrents in Khirthar mountains range filled Nai Gaaj and seven other Nais (natural rainwater drains) to the brim and cut off Tando Rahim, Fazal Jamali, Hassan Rodhnani, Razi Khan, Laiq, Sawaro, Chhinni, Ahmed Birhamani, Golo Faqir, Qasim Rodhnani, Shahik Rodhnani from Johi town.

Thousands of cattle were also killed during heavy rains.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Zafar Iqbal said in Islamabad on Friday that the authority was taking adequate measures to provide relief to flood- and rain-stricken people of Sindh.

He said the NDMA had already dispatched thousands of tents and food packets and it would distribute    50,000 more food packets among the affected people in Sindh.

He said the food packets had been arranged by district and provincial governments.