Health emergency declared as Karachi braces for more rains

Karachi and other parts of southern Sindh are likely to receive severe rains again from the evening or night of Thursday (today) to July 18, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) officials warned on Wednesday.

“A powerful monsoon system from the Bay of Bengal, which is almost 90 per cent identical to the previous system that caused devastation in Sindh and Balochistan, is moving towards southern Sindh in the next few hours,” according to Sindh’s chief meteorologist Dr Sardar Sarfaraz.

“This system is capable of causing moderate to heavy rains with some very heavy falls in Karachi, Thatta, Badin, Tharparkar, Umerkot and their adjoining areas, which may result in an urban flooding-like situation.”

In view of the heavy rains’ forecast, the Sindh Health Department has imposed a health emergency at all the tertiary-care health facilities in Karachi and other cities of the province, directing the authorities to establish control rooms at all the district health offices and hospitals.

PMD officials in Islamabad also warned that monsoon currents from the Bay of Bengal are continuously penetrating the upper and central parts of the country, while another strong monsoon low pressure area is likely to approach Sindh today.

They said that under the influence of this weather system, more widespread intermittent heavy to very heavy rains with wind or thunder showers are expected in Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta and Badin.

Due to more rains in Sindh and Balochistan, the Hub dam is likely to overflow since its reservoir level had reached 338 feet on Tuesday, while the maximum capacity to store water in the dam is 339 feet, according to Water & Power Development Authority (Wapda) officials.

They said that a few millimetres of rain in the catchment area of the dam spread over hundreds of kilometres could cause the dam to overflow in the coming monsoon rain spell. According to PMD officials in Karachi, the DHA neighbourhood had received the highest amount (342.4mm) of downpour during this season’s first monsoon rain spell between July 4 and July 11, followed by 324.6mm rain recorded at the PAF Base Masroor and 280.5mm at the PAF Base Faisal.

The PMD’s rain record showed that Gulshan-e-Hadeed received 251.2mm, Landhi and Quaidabad 213.5mm, Nazimabad 203.7mm, Surjani 196.3mm, the old airport area 180mm, North Karachi 153.7mm, Orangi Town 127mm, Jinnah Terminal 110.6mm, Gulshan-e-Maymar 105.3mm, Keamari 89.7mm, Saadi Town 71.2mm and Gadap Town 52.2mm.

PMD officials said that the second system is also capable of causing heavy to very heavy rains in Shaheed Benazirabad, Dadu, Tharparkar, Umerkot, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Mithi, Jamshoro, Naushehroferoze, Larkana, Jacobabad, Ghotki, Sukkur, Khairpur, Shikarpur, Qambar Shahdadkot and Kashmore.

They said that this system is so powerful that it can also cause heavy to very heavy rains from today to July 17 in Zhob, Ziarat, Barkhan, Loralai, Bolan, Kohlu, Kalat, Khuzdar, Lasbela, Awaran, Naseerabad, Jaffarabad, Jhal Magsi, Dera Bugti, Sibbi, Panjgur, Turbat and Pasni, where the first spell has already caused widespread devastation.

In the wake of the heavy rains’ forecast, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has also issued instructions to the relevant federal ministries and departments, the provincial governments and their line departments to remain watchful and take all the necessary precautionary measures to deal with any untoward situation.

An NDMA statement read that the relevant departments have been directed to ensure the pre-placement of the emergency equipment, including dewatering pumps, and the availability of emergency personnel to respond to any emergency, especially in case of any blockage, road closure or damage in major cities like Karachi.

The NDMA has directed the authorities to ensure timely evacuation of the population from low-lying and flood-prone areas in accordance with the evacuation plans and ensure the availability of shelter, food and medicines at camps.

It also urged the relevant authorities and departments to conduct mass public awareness and alert the population about the possible risks associated with the monsoon rains and advise them against unnecessary travelling.

It asked the provincial authorities to instruct the law enforcement agencies, along with the traffic police, to guide travellers and tourists about likely situations as well as the dangers of waterlogged areas and underpasses while advising them against unnecessary movement.

According to Wapda officials, the Hub dam is likely to overflow in the coming spell since the reservoir level had reached 338 feet water, while the dam could hold 339 feet of it, following which water would start overflowing from its spillway because of the dam’s structure lacked gates.

“After the first spell the Hub dam is almost full. In case of more rains in the catchment area of the dam spread over 3,500km in Balochistan, water will start overflowing from its spillway automatically,” said an official. The Hub dam supplies around 100 million gallons of water a day to Karachi as well as 60mgd to the Lasbela district of Balochistan, and once filled to the capacity, this dam can provide water to both areas for three years, according to the officials.