DADU: Floodwaters gushing from seven breaches in Khuda Wah inundated a major part of Khairpur Nathan Shah and 10km of the Indus Highway from Yousuf Naich village to Mehar bypass on Friday. The waters were heading towards Mehar, where the administration issued a last warning to residents of the town and adjoining areas to leave their homes.
A grid station, the civil courts, taluka hospital, police station, boys’ and girls’ colleges, banks and houses were inundated in Khairpur Nathan Shah.
People climbed onto rooftops as the water level rose to six feet and continued rising.
Over 14,000 people were in the town and they were facing a shortage of food. A rescue operation was yet to be launched.
Floodwaters were also surging towards Sita Road town after inundating 30 villages near Khairpur Nathan Shah. A large number of families displaced from the villages camped out in the open on the Johi branch embankment.
The Indus Highway was under three feet of water and traffic between Dadu and Larkana was diverted towards the Sita-Mehar link road.
Displaced people were going towards Sita Road on foot because of lack of transport.
The town of 30,000 was itself under a threat as raging torrents were just six kilometres away.
The MPA from the area, Imran Zafar Leghari, advised people to leave Sita Road.
The administration began work on an embankment around Mehar in the evening.
Waters flowing from three artificial cuts of 1,000 feet in Johi canal, at Bello Patan and Kari Mori, reached Thareri Mohbat and inundated 20 villages. The waters were heading towards Johi town.
The town was also under threat from breaches in the Main Nara Valley drain at Pir Mashaikh village. Three villages and a five-kilometre stretch of road were washed away in the taluka, suspending traffic between Dadu and Johi.
The residents of Johi started vacating the town, opting for Kachho and a mountainous strip nearby.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah visited Dadu and had an aerial view of Johi and Khairpur Nathan Shah.
Troops were deployed along the MNV drain embankment in Johi.
At least 24 breaches in the drain in Johi, Mehar and Khairpur Nathan Shah talukas had not been plugged when we went to press.
No comments:
Post a Comment