• Part of Munda Headworks collapses; 42 people killed in provinces; Evacuation of residents of Nowshera and Charsadda
• Trains, flights suspended
• Quetta sank after 36 hours of heavy rain; fear of acute shortage of gas
• NA speaker, NPA donations one- monthly salary to the fund
PESHAWAR / ISLAMABAD / QUETTA: As the floods keep devastating the length and breadth of country as a result in in death of at least 42 more people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the emergency in several districts, government decided to bring in an army in all provinces help civil authorities in rescue operations in disaster-hit areas.
At present, more how half of Pakistan is under water and millions of people became homeless as result of flash floods caused by abnormal monsoon rains, which are now in their eighth time with no sign of subsides.
Notice given to this effect said the exact number of troops and area of deployment will work out respective provincial governments in consultation with in military operational management and headquarters.
“…The date of cancellation of requisition of a decision on this deployment will be made subsequently after mutual consultations between all interested parties,” the notice says.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said Punjab government requisitioned the deployment of the army in Dera Ghazi Khan, a KP wanted army help in Dera Ismail Khan. Balochistan sought deployment of in personnel in The districts of Nasirabad, Jal Magsi, Sohbatpur, Jafarabad and Lasbela, and Sindh also looking for military help in in flood-hit areas.
At the same time, parts of The KP witnessed devastation as the Kabul and Swat rivers experienced “very severe flooding”, prompting authorities to evacuate low-lying parts. of in region and introduction of emergency in Swat and other areas.
floods that left 42 people dead in various parts of province formerly on Friday hit Charsaddinsky and Novshera districts in evening. At least 21 people were killed in Mansehra and Kohistan, 12 in Matchmaker, five in shangla three in Lower Dir and one in Lucky Marwat at the time of writing this report made print it out.
According to provincial irrigation department officials, part of Munda headgear that regulates the flow of The Swat River collapsed. official said last the recorded river runoff at the headworks was 260,000 μs. Swat River at Munda head plant in Charsadda was in very high flood with 260,000 µs of water flow while Kabul river in Nowshera experienced ‘very severe floods’ with 176,500 cubic seconds around 19:00. Administration of Charsaddinsky district also confirmed to Dawn that the 100 to 300 foot section of head structures collapsed, causing the water level in The Jindi and Khyali canals have expanded.
On the other hand, the authorities worked to evacuate people from the neighborhood of both channels to safe places.
Deputy Commissioner of Nowshera Mir Reza Ozgen addresses residents risk leave their homes immediately and move to safer places for fear over 400,000 µs of water flow on Friday night when the GT Road will be three to four feet underwater. of water. In a similar way, in Charsadda, the Swat River at Munda head plant, recorded very high levels flood when the flow reached 260,000 cubic seconds; it was only 175,000 cubic seconds in floods in 2010. District administration official said about 200,000 people were evacuated to safer places in Charsadda.
Matchmaker
Because of the intensity of floods, KP government emergency declared due to rain in Swat district with instant effect until August 30 after the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) warned of “high to very high floods” in Swat river.
Flash floods washed away dozens of hotels, bridges, mosques and access roads in Upper Swat district, while hundreds of at home, shops and restaurants were flooded.
According to local sources, hundreds of animals, about 20 trout hatcheries, at least 15 bridges, about 15 hotels, five mosques and hundreds of houses were washed away by flash floods, and main the road between Madyan and Kalam was partially damaged causing Kalam to be disconnected valley with rest of area. flash floods also destroyed thousands of acres of agricultural land in in valley. “About 50 hotels, five bridges and five markets also was washed away by floods in Kalam,” said local journalist Aziz Kalami.
Quetta flooded
Highways linking Balochistan with other provinces remained inactive on Friday of inexorable rains and floods is not allow authorities to repair the damaged artery. One more bridge on Quetta Sukkur also flooded in Bolan river.
Meanwhile, Quetta and its environs remained flooded as a 36-hour rainstorm inundated much of the city. of provincial capital, forcing life to freeze and leaving hundreds of families without homes.
In Navan Killi, Chashma Achozai, Pashtunabad, Khazar city, Faisal city, various terrain in Sariab, Sabzal tract, western and eastern bypass areas, flood water forced people leave them homes.
“A few hundred people were transferred to the hostels of the Pakistan Sports Council in Ayub Stadium. official sources told Dawn, sharing details on the magnitude of destruction.
Situation in Nasirabad division worsened even more due to the flooding of the rivers Bolan, Lehri and Nari. hit in protection dams in Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Jal Magsi and Sohbatpur districts. At least 100 villages were flooded after the breach of the Sabri dam.
“We rescued and relocated many families to safety and provided them with basic necessities, food and drinking water. in their tents,” Nasirabad Commissioner Fateh Muhammad Hajak said. who visited the affected areas.
Flooding on the Lehri River damaged much of of all four districts and broke through the Pat Feeder and Rabi canals, putting Dera Murad Jamali and the city of Dera Allahyar in danger. risk of floods. “Flood waters penetrated some settlements of city of Dera Allahyar,” it became known.
Acting Governor of Balochistan in meeting with Main minister emphasized need for Islamabad and donors on the way forward as well as help provinces.
Acute lack of gas
Gas workers were unable to repair two gas pipelines washed away by water. result of floods in the Bolan River, resulting in in acute shortage of liquefied natural gas in the provincial capital. Due to the high demand for LPG, prices jumped up in in city on up up to 35 percent.
A 12-inch pipeline that supplies gas to Quetta and other cities. of Balochistan, was swept away near the areas of Bibi Nani. of Bolan district one week after the 24″ main the pipeline was washed away in Flash flood last a week.
representative for Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) turned to people take alternative measures as the pipelines could only be repaired after a respite in floods.
Long queues of people have been witnessed at LPG dealers shops transportation of gas cylinders. “We are here in together queue for two hours but no gas available”Tariq Ali said to Dawn, standing by the LPG. shop with cylinder.
shop the owners said they also “surcharge money liquefied gas dealers” due to the lack of of CIS in in market. Dealers imported gas from Iran and Karachi, and due to the closure of line supply of LPG was stopped.
Flights and trains are suspended
Meanwhile, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights have been suspended due to bad weather terms in Quetta due weather and communication system failurea PIA spokesman said.
The spokesman said PIA PK 310 Karachi to Quetta, PK 322 Lahore to Quetta and PK 325 Islamabad to Quetta were affected due to prevailing weather terms. Earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) temporarily closed Nawabshah Airport due to flooding.
Passenger train services between Hyderabad and Khanpur have also been suspended. for five days due to high water near Nawabshah; however freight and freight will be remain This was stated at a press conference by the Minister of Railways Saad Rafik. He said about 18 inches of flood waters flooded 10 km. stretch of railway tracks near Nawabshah on Karachi-Peshawar highway, also called the main line one (ML-1).
He said that Pakistan Railways, the divisional headquarters and the regional headquarters have decided to shut down passenger operations. on this track; however, trains from Peshawar to Multan will continue to operate.
Trains affected include Allama Iqbal Express, Avam Express, Farid Express, Khyber Post, Pakistan Express, Shalimar Express, Bahauddin Zakaria Express, Hazara Express and Tezgham, he said, adding that the fare would be reimbursed.
Mr. Rafik said a few flood-hit parts of Caterpillars ML-2 and ML-3 had already was closed. big bridge on the ML-3 line was washed away by floods and negotiations were underway with National Logistics Cell (NLC) for an alternative mechanism for restoring operations, he said.
minister said that the railway from Karachi, Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas remain in working condition, and each railway bridge will be checked within next 72 hours. He said the shuttle trains would run in areas not affected by floods.
He told reporters that Pakistan Railways had suffered losses. of 10 billion rupees due to damage to its tracks and infrastructure after flood and estimated further losses.
Meanwhile, the speaker of the National Assembly said that the NPA will donate their one-monthly salary, while the staff of the NA Secretariat will donate one- weekly payment flood funds. Separately, Marrium Aurangzeb stated that civil servants from grades 17 to 22 decided to donate their one- weekly salary flood aid fund.
Ali Jan Mangi in Nasirabad, Manzoor Ali in Peshawar, Fazal Khaliq in Swat, Nisar Muhammad Khan in Manser, Faiz Muhammad in Charsadda, Syed Irfan Raza, Amin Ahmed and Mohammad Asghar in Islamabad contributed to this report.
Published in Dawn, August 27, 2022
