Toll 55 as rains paralyse Sindh, Balochistan

KARACHI/HYDERABAD/QUETTA: As many as 47 people have lost their lives in rain-related accidents including electrocution in Sindh in the first spell of monsoon rains from July 4 to 11, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) of Sindh has said, adding that of them, 26 were electrocuted. Around 29 people died in Karachi alone.

According to PDMA and Sindh police officials, 47 people lost their lives in the weeklong spell of the monsoon which hit the province from July 4 to July 11. The police data collected from July 4 to 12 showed that among total victims, 26 people were electrocuted. The data did not mention the death of nine coal miners, which the PDMA had mentioned, who drowned and died when rainwater entered the coal mine in the Jhimpir area of Thatta, thus the death toll rises to 45.

According to Sindh police, of the 47 deaths, 26 deaths were due to electric shocks and of them, 18 were killed in Karachi alone. Among them, one person was electrocuted in the South, five in the City, one in Keamari, three in the East, two in Malir, three in Korangi, one in West and two in Central District. The police said five persons drowned, four in Malir District and one in Central. Four persons died in roof/wall collapse incidents, two in Korangi and two in Central District.

Two men were electrocuted near Shoe Market on Chand Raat. After getting information, rescuers reached the area and transported the casualties to the Civil Hospital. The victims were later identified as 28-year-old Asif, son of Aslam, and Hassan, 25, son of Moosa. In the Korangi area, an elderly man was electrocuted. His body was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for autopsy. He was later identified as 62-year-old Ali Sher Khan. Shoaib, 30, son of Hassan Ali, died after he was electrocuted in New Karachi. His body was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. A man who was identified as Mehboob, 45, died from electrocution at Khayaban-e-Sehar in Defence Housing Authority, Karachi. Police said that deceased was a resident of Korangi. His body was taken to the JPMC. In Korangi Industrial Area, a labourer who was identified as Sherzada, son of Ameer Jang, was killed after a private company’s wall collapsed on him near Chamra Mandi. He hailed from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and resided at Quaidabad. His body was taken to the JPMC.

Similarly, an elderly woman identified as 70-year-old Khadija Bibi, wife of Haji Ghafoor, died after the roof of her house collapsed in Gulberg. The body of a girl who was later identified as eight-year-old Zainab Bibi was found from Lyari. The body of a young man was found from a nullah in Umer Colony. Police said the deceased was yet to be identified. Moeed, 32, son of Ahmed Iqbal, was electrocuted in Manghoopir area. Two minor girls drowned at Malir’s Memon Goth. After getting information, the rescuers recovered their bodies. Their bodies were taken to the JPMC where they were identified as 12-year-old Dua, daughter of Nabi Bukhsh, and Hafza, 8, daughter of Jamshed.

Two youths drowned while bathing in Jamshoro on Tuesday. The youths identified as Shariq and Noman had come to Jamshoro from Karachi to celebrate Eid. The body of one of the youths has been recovered while search for the other was under way.

Intermittent heavy rains in different parts of Karachi since Monday evening inundated many areas of the city, bringing life to a halt. The electricity supply to most areas of Karachi remained suspended for several hours, making it difficult for people to carry on their activities. According to the Geo News, rainwater accumulated on the main roads and streets of DHA, Clifton, Malir, Airport Road, II Chundrigar Road, Saddar, Old City Area, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Federal B Area, North Nazimabad, Korangi and PECHS. In addition to residential areas, several main roads of the city including NIPA Chowrangi Flyover, Qayyummabad Chowrangi, Arts Council Chowrangi, Supreme Court Registry, Zainab Market, Bolton Market and MA Jinnah Road were flooded with rain and sewer water, affecting the flow of traffic.

Owing to incessant rain throughout Monday, several areas of DHA were inundated. These areas included Tauheed Commercial Area, Ittehad Commercial Area, Khayaban-e-Shamsher, Muslim Commercial, Sea View, Badr Commercial, Saba Avenue, Khayaban-e-Bahria, 26th Street, Khayaban-e-Mujahid and Khayaban-e-Tanzeem. Rainwater entered many houses, damaging furniture and other household items.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed federal and provincial civic bodies to closely monitor the safety measures ahead of the monsoon spell starting on Thursday. He asked the authorities to ensure a proper precautionary system for people across the country including Sindh, Balochistan and South Punjab. He lauded the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for extending support to provincial governments and institutions in controlling the situation amid heavy rains. He mentioned unity, cooperation and selfless service to people as strength of his government. The prime minister paid tribute to the provincial governments and institutions for their services in protecting the lives and property of people. He urged the departments concerned to do their best to serve people with dedication.

In a message to staffers of civic bodies, he said the spirit of helping the mankind was in fact the greatest and noble service. He commended the departments responsible for civic measures including police for showing a great spirit of public service during Eid holidays.

Meanwhile, stagnant water outside the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, the largest cardiology hospital in Karachi, made it difficult for ambulances to travel back and forth. The Clifton submarine underpass and the KPT underpass had to be closed due to flooding, while rainwater entered houses in certain areas of Liaquatabad and Bihar Colony of Lyari.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department released Monday's rainfall data of Karachi from 6am to 11am, according to which the heaviest rainfall, measuring 126.6mm, was recorded in DHA Phase II. The PAF Faisal Base received 88mm of rainfall, Masroor Base 53mm, North Karachi 38mm and Old Airport and University Road 35.6mm and 34mm, respectively.

Another monsoon rain spell is likely to approach Sindh from July 14 (Thursday) and would persist till July 18. According to weather alert issued by the Met office, strong low pressure will approach Sindh under which widespread rains and thunderstorm are likely to occur in Hyderabad, Karachi, Mirpurkhas, Thatta, Badin, Dadu, Umerkot, Tharparkar, TM Khan, Tando Allahyar, Sanghar, Nawabshah, Naushehro Feroze, Larkana, Sukkur, Jacobabad, Jamshoro, Ghotki, Shikarpur and Qambar Shahdadkot.

Heavy rains and flashfloods in Balochistan’s District Loralai caused five deaths including three males and two females who died due to spillover of a dam in Loralai. In District Dhuki, a woman perished due to flood caused by rain whereas in District Chaman, a dam got damaged owing to flood. In District Pishin, another dam got damaged due to flood whereas in District Quetta, several houses were damaged due to rain. Flashfloods wreaked havoc on Vindar as the administration, Levies, Edhi and other rescue agencies remained engaged in rescue operations. "To deal with the situation, Pakistan Army, FC, Pak Navy, Edhi, Lasbela Welfare Trust and other rescue agencies are engaged in rescue operations," Deputy Commissioner Lasbela Iftikhar Bugti said on Monday.

As Karachi is recovering from the devastation caused by the first week-long monsoon spell, weather pundits have warned of more severe rains in Karachi and other parts of Southern Sindh from Thursday, July 14, to Monday, July 18, saying heavy rains could cause urban-flooding and water-logging in different areas of Karachi as well as Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Dadu, Jamshoro, Nawabshah, Jacobabad, Larkana and Sukkur during the period.

“A strong monsoon system from the Bay of Bengal is present over Central India and likely to move towards Southern Sindh in next two days. This system is capable of causing moderate to heavy rains with some very heavy falls in Karachi, Thatta, Badin and Tharparkar, Umerkot and adjoining areas, which may result in urban-flooding”, Chief Meteorologist Sindh Dr Sardar Sarfraz told The News on Tuesday.

Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) officials in Islamabad also warned that monsoon currents from Bay of Bengal are continuously penetrating upper and central parts of the country, while another strong monsoon low pressure area (LPA) is likely to approach Sindh on Thursday, July 14, and under influence of this weather system, more widespread intermittent heavy to very heavy rain-wind/thundershowers are expected in Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta and Badin districts.

Due to more rains in Sindh and Balochistan, the Hub dam is likely to overflow as its reservoir level reached 338 feet on Tuesday while the maximum capacity to store water in the dam is 339 feet, WAPDA officials said. According to PMD officials in Karachi, the DHA neighbourhood of Karachi received the highest amount of rainfall during the first spell of monsoon rains in this season where 342.4 millimeters of rain was recorded between July 4 to 11, 2022 followed by 324.6 mm at Masroor Base and 280.5 at PAF Base Faisal during the same period.

Gulshan-e-Hadeed areas received 251.2 mm, Landhi and Quaidabad areas 213.5 mm, Nazimabad 203.7 mm, Surjani 196.3 mm, MOS or the old airport area 180 mm, North Karachi 153.7 mm, Orangi Town 127 mm, Jinnah Terminal 110.6 mm, Gulshan-e-Maymar 105.3 mm, Kemari 89.7 mm, Saadi Town 71.2 mm while Gadap Town 52.2 mm.

PMD officials said this system is also capable of causing heavy to very heavy rains in Shaheed Benazirabad, Dadu, Tharparkar, Umerkot, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Mithi, Jamshoro, Noshero Feroze, Larkana, Jaccobabad, Ghotki, Sukkur, Khairpur, Shikarpur, Qambar Shahdadkot and Kashmore districts. They maintained that this system was so much powerful that it would also cause heavy to very heavy rains in Zhob, Ziarat, Barkhan, Loralai, Bolan, Kohlu, Kalat, Khuzdar, Lasbella, Awaran, Naseerabad, Jaffarabad, Jhal Magsi, Dera Bugti, Sibbi, Panjgur, Turbat and Pasni from July 14 to 17 where the first spell of monsoon rains has already caused widespread devastation.

Similarly, more intermittent rains and wind/thundershowers (with isolated heavy falls) are expected in Islamabad, Kashmir, Swat, Mansehra, Kohistan, Abbottabad, Haripur, Peshawar, Mardan, Swabi, Nowshera, Kurram, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Kohat, Mianwali, Sargodha, Hafizabad, MB Din, Rawalpindi, Murree, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Sialkot, Narowal, Lahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sheikhupura, Faisalabad, Jhang, Sahiwal, Okara, Bhakkar, Layyah, Multan, Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Rahimyar Khan and Khanpur from July 13 to 15.

In the wake of heavy rains’ forecast, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued instructions to the federal ministries and departments, provincial governments, their line departments including PIDs, PDMAs/GBDMA/SDMA, district administrations/DDMAs, municipal administrations and major metropolis to remain watchful and take all precautionary measures to deal with any untoward situation.

An NDMA statement said departments were directed to ensure pre-placement of emergency equipment including dewatering pumps and availability of emergency personnel to respond to any emergency, especially in case of any blockage, road closure and damage in major cities like Karachi. It directed authorities to ensure timely evacuation of population from low-lying/flood-prone areas as per evacuation plans and make certain availability of shelter, food and medicines in camps and urged relevant authorities and departments to conduct mass public awareness and alert population about possible risks associated with the monsoon rains and avoid unnecessary travelling during the said period.

The disaster management authority asked the provincial authorities to instruct law-enforcement agencies along with traffic police to guide travelers/tourists regarding likely situations/dangers of waterlogged areas and underpasses and avoid unnecessary travel/movement.

The Hub dam is likely to overflow in the coming spell of monsoon rains as the reservoir level has reached 338 feet, WAPDA officials told The News, adding that the dam could hold 339 feet of water and afterwards, water would start overflowing from its spillway as this dam is an ungated structure. “During the first spell of the current monsoon season, the Hub dam is almost full as today, its reservoir level was 338 feet. In case of more rains in the catchment area of the dam, which is spread over 3,500 kilometres in Balochisan, water would start overflowing from its spillway automatically,” a WAPDA official said.

The Hub dam supplies around 100 million gallons of water per day to Karachi as well as 60 mg of water to the Lasbella district of Balochistan and once filled to the capacity, this dam can provide water to both areas for three years at this rate, officials said.