KARACHI/KHAIRPUR – Authorities began evacuating half a million people living along the swollen Indus River in Sindh on Thursday as country’s biggest floods in 80 years threaten to inflict widespread suffering.
Raging waters have spread from the northwest to the Punjab agricultural heartland and then down to Sindh, as people watched villages collapse, thousands of deaths. Officials in Sindh are scrambling to prevent heavy loss of life and more destruction to the mainstay agriculture industry.
After wreaking havoc in South Punjab, the floodwater in Indus River crossed 0.8 million cusecs at Guddu Barrage on Thursday, leaving more villages inundated in upper Sindh.
According to Sindh Irrigation Department, the water level in Indus at Guddu Barrage was recorded at 0.820 million cusecs, which is surging and it is expected that Sindh will see ‘super flood’ of over 0.9 million to 1 million cusecs water within next two days.
Water level in Indus at Sukkur Barrage was also increasing as upstream level has been gauged at 0.341 million cusecs and downstream discharge was 0.318 million cusecs on Thursday evening, Irrigation Department officials told TheNation, adding the water level will likely to rise to 0.5 million to 0.6 million cusecs till night.
Meanwhile, the havoc of floodwater became visible as more villagers inundated in Kashmore, Sukkur, Ghotki, Khairpur and Dadu districts.
When TheNation contacted DG Operations, Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Khair Muhammad Kalwar said that water level is increasing in Indus at Guddu and Sukkur barrages. He confirmed that 30 per cent residents of Katcha areas in Kashmore are still living in their homes as they are not ready to leave villages. He pointed out that government will forcibly evacuate them.
All the 108 villages of Sukkur in Katcha areas also came under floodwater, besides out of 217 villages of Katcha area, 29 villages inundated. The PDMA DG said that four helicopter of Pak Air force have been sent to Sukkur to keep them ready for any eventuality and lift the people from floodwater.
However, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah along with Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo and other officials visited the Guddu Barrage and got briefing about the floodwater situation in Indus River. During his visit, he said that about 1.5 million people are likely be affected by floodwater.
At least 25 police stations as well as over 200 villages of katcha area in four districts inundated after rising water level in Indus River. Water level at Guddu Barrage was now 848,000 cusecs, as rains continued in Guddu, Kashmore, Ghotki, Sukkur, Khairpur Shikarpur and adjoining areas.
People residing near the Guddu Barrage had left their homes and moved to the protective dykes where they awaited for aid under the open sky amid torrential rain.
The water level at Sukkur Barrage was 3,55,000 cusecs on upstream while 3,22,000 cusecs was in downstream, due to which over 200 villages of kutcha area of Ghotki, Shikarpur, Sukkur, Khairpur inundated.
Moreover, a large number of villages including Lal Bux Mahar, Usman Mako, Bahawal Junejo, Jan Muhammad Mahar, Gull Hassan Mangi, Kaloo Qadirani, Faqir Jatoi, Karim Bux Junejo, Rasool Bux, Soomra Phanwari and Raza Ghoth of Sukkur district while Sadiq Kalhoro, Dost Muhammad Junejo, Bachal Junejo, Kharal Abad, Ismail Abro, Teepani Behleem and others in Khairpur inundated, said an official of Irrigation Department, adding that the level of the water is further rising with passage of time.
Sources further told that around 25 police stations also inundated in the four districts.
Apart from this, more than 150 government primary schools of Katcha area also inundated while students were shifted to safer areas.
Meteorological Department issued another flood warning for Sindh and possible leakages of protective embankments along the Indus River.
Agencies add: So far, the floods have killed more than 1,600 people and officials said the toll was likely to climb. More than 4 million have also lost their livelihoods and homes.
Some 150 points along the Indus were considered especially vulnerable, officials said. Authorities are using 30 boats to help the evacuation of some 500,000 people living along the riverbanks and have set up 400 relief camps, said Saleh Farooqi, a top disaster response official in Sindh.
The flash floods have submerged over 800 villages in Sukkur, Ghotki, Khairpur, Shikarpur, Larkana and Dadu districts in Sindh.
The surging water of flood is moving towards more villages while many villagers are reluctant to shift to safer areas. “Rains have weakened the protective walls and embankments, but we are trying to reinforce them,” Farooqi said.
Authorities said treacherous conditions were also hampering evacuation efforts. “If you tell them a big water-surge is on the way, they reply, ‘Go and take care of our cities, don’t worry about us. We are excellent swimmers’,” a senior district government official in Sukkur, Inamullah Harejo, told Reuters by telephone.
Authorities said River Indus embankment in Sonmiani area of Rahimyar Khan district developed a 50-foot-wide breach on Thursday, inundating 15 villages and destroying crops standing on hundreds of acres. Heavy contingents of Army and district administration employees rushed to the scene and started rescue operation.
The Army used boats and helicopters to move stranded villagers to higher ground in Punjab. Many of the survivors carried what possessions they could, from clothing to pots and pans. Many held their children.
“We are migrants in our home,” said Ahmad Bakhsh, 56, who fled flooded Sanawan town. “Oh God, why have you done this?”
An aerial view from a military helicopter showed that a vast area between Multan and Muzaffargarh cities looked like a large lake, with the occasional dead cow floating by.
Maj Gen Nadir Zeb, the region’s army commander, said many people had ignored flood warnings and only realised the danger of the situation when water entered their cities, towns and villages. “They risked their lives, but we are reaching them,” he said.
“All these villages are dangerous now. We are evacuating the population,” said Manzoor Sarwar, police chief for Muzaffargarh district. “Important installations are in danger. We have taken all possible steps to save people’s lives and important installations,” he said.
But victims lashed out at authorities for failing to come to their rescue and provide better relief, piling pressure on a cash-strapped administration straining to contain Taliban violence and economic crisis.
Houses, shops, petrol pumps and small villages were submerged. Villagers waded barefoot through water up to their necks and chests, carrying belongings on their heads to reach safer places, an AFP reporter said.
At least 1.3 million acres of crops have been destroyed in Punjab alone, relief officials said, raising the possibility of price rises.
Huge agriculture losses would mean Pakistan will have to spend more to import cotton for its crucial textile industry, as well as sugar, and will have less rice to export.
The number of affected districts in Punjab rose to seven and alert warnings were issued in five districts of Sindh to the south, the United Nations said.