KARACHI: Almost all the Katcha areas of the Thatta district, having a population of 124,000, have been inundated and now the floodwater is even threatening the settled areas here, provincial minister and other officials warned on Tuesday.
The Minister for Culture, Sassui Palijo, said over 115,000 people had been evacuated so far from the Katcha areas in the district, triggering demands for tents and ration.
On the other hand, Irrigation department officials have ostensibly managed to save the Shahdakot city from flooding with help of an improvised embankment but diversion of floodwater to the MNV drain might threaten the Dadu district if the water level increases in it.
The DCO Thatta stated that the situation was becoming grave. Reports by the Flood Forecasting Centre and media are warning the people living in the settled areas as well. As the water flow is increasing considerably on an hourly basis and spreading in the Katcha areas, the remaining people from the Katcha areas were being evacuated at a fast pace. The Director Operations, Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Khair Mohammed Kalwar, told The News that so far, the Shahdadkot city had been saved from inundation with the help of an improvised embankment there.
As Irrigation department officials have started diverting the floodwaters from Shahdadkot to MNV drain, there were apprehensions that the Dadu district may come under severe threat if the water level increased.
District Coordination Officer (DCO), Dadu, Mohammed Iqbal Memon, in a letter to Chief Secretary Sindh has demanded safe passage for floodwater from Miro Khan Zero Point (MKZP) to the Manchar lake in order to save the Dadu district from possible floods but it appears that the request had not been entertained.
According to the DCOís letter, General Manager, Wapda, Hyderabad, has stated that the designed capacity of MNV drain was 3,500 cusecs and a discharge beyond its capacity would flood Mehar, Khairpur Nathan Shah, Dadu and Johi Talukas.
Therefore, the Wapda official had suggested the authorities that the excess floodwater from the Hamal lake should flow towards the Manchar lake along the right side of flood protection bund without entering the MNV drain.
Subsequently, the DCO Dadu held a meeting with Syed Abbas Shah, Member Wapda, Lahore, which was also attended by Minister for State for Agriculture and Food Rafique Ahmed Jamali, where Wapda reiterated the same position, according to the contents of the letter whose copy was obtained by The News.
The district authorities also visited the MNV drain and came to the conclusion that its condition was not satisfactory and its collapse/breach would surely put life and property of tens of thousands of people in the Dadu district at risk.
Meanwhile, the DCO Dadu, Iqbal Memon, talking to The News on Tuesday said that at present, around 1,500-2,000 cusecs water had been released into the MNV drain and if it surpassed the level of 3,500 cusecs, it might collapse, triggering threat of inundation of the Dadu district.
Memon said that the chief minister had stated that water would not be released into the MNV drain beyond its capacity.
The DCO said that if water was diverted to the Hamal lake, it would reach Manchar lake without causing much damage. He said it was also the view of the Irrigation department officials that the floodwaters should be diverted to the Hamal lake.
Meanwhile, an Irrigation department spokesman said the whole Katcha area upstream and downstream Kotri was fully inundated and there was a heavy pressure on the banks.
The Kotri Barrage was in Super Flood and the situation will continue for some more days. There was severe erosion at Akil Agani embankment and apron along with stone pitching over 250 foot was washed away. The damage was being recouped with stone dumping and the situation was under control.
The spokesman said the RBOD-II was under water in Katcha area and was damaged/overtopped from RD-0 to RD-740 (113 miles). The floodwater was rushing towards Qamber-Shahdadkot and Hamal lake area.
Meanwhile, Sassui Palijo told The News on Tuesday evening that around 145 camps had been set up and they needed at least 10,000 tents. She said that the demand for food was also increasing as almost all residents of the Katcha areas had been evacuated. She said the Surjani embankment was also under extreme threat. She apprehended that the sugarcane crop, spread over 20,000 acres, would be destroyed. Palijo said that 54 Zamindari Bunds (embankments developed by influential people to save their lands) were also causing havoc in the area. She believed that these embankments had also caused diversion in flow of the Indus water.
Meanwhile, the DCO Thatta in his report to the chief secretary Sindh, said that they were provided 1,000 ration bags by the Relief department and 2,100 tents and all these had been efficiently utilised.
Our correspondent from Thatta adds: Several villages and two main towns in the Katcha areas near Jhirik, Tando Hafiz Shah and Rajoo Nizamani downstream Kotri were submerged. Majority of people were evacuated out of the Katcha areas and shifted to safer places and in relief camps.
Meanwhile, the entire Katcha area of Indus has been submerged and water has started hitting the embankments. There are 26 vulnerable points on both sides of river embankments in this district. The most vulnerable points include Soorjani, Monarki, Sonda-hilaya and MS embankment.
A visit to Soorjani revealed erosion of the embankment. It has been declared most vulnerable.
DCO Thatta Manzoor Shaikh admitted that the Right Bank Outflow Drain (RBOD) had caused grave problems, and added that heavy machinery had been called to check the water flow. He said that there were 133 relief camps where necessary facilities were being given to the people.
Hectic efforts are under way by the administration and all concerned departments to save the bunds and avert any major eventuality. Army Jawans are assisting the administration in all efforts.
