KARACHI: Heavy monsoon rains lashing most parts of Sindh wrecked havoc in the metropolitan city and Mirpurkhas besides many other districts in the province leaving 18 people dead and a large number of injured in roof collapses and rain-related incidents on Thursday.
Dozens of villages also came under floodwater and ruined the cultivated crops over thousands of acre agricultural land.At least seven persons including two children were killed and 28 others injured in Mirpurkhas during heavy rainfall. Javed Malik, 25, drowned in LBOD drain near Mirwah Gorchani town. Raeesa, 50, and a two years old child, Ahsan, died on the spot as the roof of their house collapsed.
A child, Haseeb, was killed due to roof collapse in Tando Jan Mohammad town. In Jhuddo Town, Mohammad Maganhar, Ms Kheti and Ms Jamni were killed in a similar incident. Some 28 people were also injured after the roof of their room fell down in Digri Town. They had gathered there for mourning the death of their relative.
All the injured were rushed to taluka hospital Digri for medical treatment.Six persons lost their lives in various areas of Tando M Khan while several others received serious injuries whom the Rescue teams shifted to nearby hospitals. Two girls lost their lives when the roof of their house located in the village of Odho, Badin, collapsed. Three people were also reported dead in various rain-related incidents in Karachi.
Civil Hospital, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and other private hospitals received several injured in the city on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Karachi administration declared emergency in the city in view of continuing intermittent rains that may pose serious threat of flooding.Amid forecasts of further rain, Karachi Administrator Fazlur Rehman remained present in his office at the civic centre on Wednesday night to monitor the preparations for flushing out rainwater. He expressed satisfaction over the working of city district government officials at the designated points. He said all preparations had been made in advance to bring any awkward situation under control.
Karachi DCO Mohammad Hussain Syed also coordinated with officers and staff of various departments to review arrangements made for draining out rainwater. As per reports, leaves of CDG staffers in Karachi and Badin have been cancelled and they have been instructed to ensure their duty round-the-clock by dividing a day in three shifts.Dr Mohammad Riaz, Chief Meteorologist told that Karachi being quite close to the current range of monsoon system may have more rain spells in next few days.Temperature may further fall to 25 degrees or even below with chances of showers against 28 degrees registered in the metropolis on Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, dozens of villages came under water which ruined the cultivated crops over thousands of acre agricultural land in different areas of Sindh. The rains disrupted the power supply and communication links in many areas.The heavy rains lashed Hyderabad, Badin, Makli, Thatta and other areas of Sindh last night. The rain and the resultant floodwater ruined the cultivated crops over thousands of acre of agricultural land in Badin.
The sporadic rains also damaged cotton and other crops in district Mirpurkhas. The water level has been continuously rising in water channels in Jamrao, Mithrao and Thar canals posing serious threats to the lives and properties of the villagers. Cotton was cultivated over about 40,200 hectors in the district but the continued heavy rainfall damaged it and the growers suffered heavy losses.
Road links between more than 700 villages of Makli and Thatta were disrupted and the residents of the affected areas were trapped in the floodwater.The rains badly damaged the power supply and communication links which caused worst hardships for the people.A 40-feet wide breach developed in Mithrao Canal and the floodwater entered Naukot city.
The water level rose to 1747.5 feet in Rawal Dam after which the dam administration started blowing sirens and opened the spillways for reducing the water pressure.On the other hand, the Met office has forecast more rain along with winds for most parts of Sindh, Southern Punjab, Balochistan, DI Khan, Bahawalpur, Multan, Banu, Peshwar, Kohat, Hazara division and Kashmir during the next 24 hours. – Nation
