Torrential rains wreaked havoc across much of Sindh, Balochistan and southern Punjab on Sunday, killing at least another 11 people, raising the death toll from the flooding to 88 people in various flood-hit districts of the country. The Ali Nawaz Wah and Pandraho Wah canals in the Faizganj area of Khairpur district reportedly developed 50-foot-wide breaches, inundating eight villages and the surrounding areas.
Several villages and standing crops on vast areas in the Salehpat tehsil of Sukkur were inundated by heavy rains and the rainwater flowing down the hills, with the victims stranded without help. Hundreds of mud-houses and standing crops on thousands of acres of land were washed away in other areas of Sindh.
DISEASE: The outbreak of disease has also exacerbated the miseries of the flood victims as diarrhea, gastroenteritis, malaria and skin diseases are rapidly spreading in interior Sindh. The downpour continued intermittently in Mirpurkhas district, and as a result rainwater and sewage accumulated on the roads, streets and in low-lying areas of towns and villages. Academic activities were also suspended in Mirpurkhas, where 2,114 school buildings were damaged out of a total of 2,400.
Torrential rains also wreaked havoc in Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Osta Muhammad, Suhbat Pur, Dera Allah Yar, Dera Murad Jamali, Tambu, Manjho Shori, Baba Kot, Rojhan Jamali and other areas of Balochistan. The safety bridge in Muzaffargarh collapsed, leading to standing crops on 4,000 acres of land being destroyed.
According to a report on damages released on Sunday by a National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) team led by Chairman Zafar Iqbal Qadir, around 88 people have been killed, 10,000 cattle are missing, 80 percent of the crops in Sindh have been destroyed and some 400,000 people had been affected by the floods in various areas of the province. Qadir said it could take one to two months for floodwater to dry up.
In Punjab, a surge in the Sutlej River submerged more than 100 localities along the river late on Saturday, inundating standing crops on hundreds of acres of land. The roads and streets in Khanpur tehsil of Rahim Yar Khan were also submerged under knee-deep water, which the administration has so far failed to drain.
The Met Office warned that more rains were expected in Sindh, southern Punjab and eastern parts of Balochistan during the next three days.
