Catastrophic rains wreak havoc in Sindh, Balochistan

Torrential monsoon rain continued to batter the country on Saturday, killing at least 50 people and wreaking havoc in Sindh and Balochistan. According to rain-flood damage data collected by the Sindh Disaster Management Authority, the most-affected district was Badin where 3,710 villages were flooded, affecting a population of 1,021,301 people. Four people were killed, 984,805 acres of land was flooded and 214,940 acres of standing crop were destroyed in the district.
Nine people were killed in Tando Muhammad Khan, where 803 villages were affected and a total of 131,893 acres of standing crop were destroyed. The largest number of deaths was reported in Mirpurkhas where 27 people died in rain-related incidents and around 1,390 villages were affected in the district. Thirteen people died in Tharparkar with 1,357 villages being affected, and 10,589 acres of standing crop being destroyed.
Two people died in Umerkot with 1,340 villages being inundated, 70,870 people being affected, and 56,748 acres of standing crop being destroyed. Two people died in Tando Allahyar where 749 villages were flooded, and 73,081 acres of standing crop were destroyed. In Dadu district, 189 villages were affected and 6,751 acres of standing crop were destroyed.More than 10,000 cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep, donkeys and horses were killed in Mirpurkhas and Umerkot districts. According to National Disaster Management Authority Chairman Zafar Qadir, the official death toll of people killed in lower Sindh in rain-related incidents was 50. He said teams of the NDMA were busy in relief activities in Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar, Badin, Hyderabad and other districts where heavy rain was continuing.
Mirprkhas DCO Ghulam Hussain Memon said from the first spell to the current spell around 18 people had died, 207 had been injured. He said 3,270 cattle were killed in the district, adding that 321,886 people had been displaced. The DCO said a rescue operation was being carried out in Sain Daad Alyani village where a breach had appeared in Puran Canal near Naokot. Owing to dozens of breaches in the left bank of Sim Nullah, a vast area in Jhuddo taluka, Naokot, Taluka Hussain Bukhsh Mari, Digri, Tando Jan Muhmmad, Sindhri, Samaro and Kunri was flooded. Traffic in hundreds of cities and towns of Sindh remained suspended as two to three feet of rainwater had accumulated in the areas.
Taluka officials were nowhere to be seen. Hundreds of residential colonies of various cities and towns of Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Sanghar, Tharparkar, Badin, Tando Allahyar, Sanghar, Nawabshah and other parts were still submerged under the rainwater. Cattle-owners Raheem Phanwar, Ghulam Haider and others told Pakistan Today that all villages had been completely inundated, killing cattle. Meanwhile, the Balochistan Disaster Management Authority confirmed that nine people had died in the province and four villages had been completely inundated due to the heavy flooding. Addressing a press conference, BDMA Director General Tahir Minhas said the ongoing monsoon rain would continue for a few days, adding that the provincial government had put five districts — Kalat, Khuzdar, Barkhan, Kohlu, Musakhail and Loralai on red alert. He said two men had died in Loralai while another two had died in Duki tehsil.