HYDERABAD, July 25: At least eight persons were killed in rain-related incident in Hyderabad, Kotri, Mithi and Diplo as rain continued intermittently for 36 hours on Thursday and Friday.
Several hundred adobe houses collapsed in the two major towns of the Tharparkar district and several of the nearby villages.
The unprecedented rain in the Thar region caused a complete breakdown of the communications and power supply systems while paralyzing the civic life.
The army has been called in to aid the civil administration in rescuing the people stranded in various localities in the two towns.
Our Mithi correspondent reports: Five villagers died in the Kharo Bajeer village in rain-related incidents, while a man, Sawai, drowned in a pond in Mithi.
At least 50 houses were destroyed in Mithi alone while 1,000 more were badly damaged.
Many cattlehead, including goats, were swept away in floods.
The army rescued 35 people stranded in the western Seeran Colony on Friday. Hundreds of families were shifted to school and college buildings and other safe places.
Villages of Verhar, Bhukrio and Malanor of Diplo were totally flooded.
The depth of accumulated rainwater at some low-lying places in Mithi and Diplo was measured to be 12 feet with the water having entered government offices, banks, hospitals and the Marui Rest House.
The district administration has declared a state of emergency in Mithi and Diplo.
Rauf Mohammad, died of electrocution in Railway Colony, Hyderabad, on Friday. He was resident of a village near Faisalabad.
A six-year old boy, Abdullah, died after a wall in his house collapsed in the Otho village, Kotri. Two others, Roshan and Kanwal were injured in the incident.
APP adds: Tharparkar DPO Mehtab Shaikh said that rain had caused major losses in the Tharparkar district.
The DPO said that about 125 people were missing in different villages, including Kharo Bajeer, Nani Sar, Pabiyo, Pandhriyo, Dhabayjee.
Thar, he said, had never seen such a rain since 1963-64, adding that the heavy rainfall had broken a 40-year-old record.
He said that the average depth of accumulated rainwater in Mithi was about five feet.
He said that about 500 Kutcha houses were destroyed.
APP adds: The ongoing spell of rain in coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan will persist till Sunday, Director General of the Meteorological Department Dr Qamar Zaman said on Friday.
The DG of the Meteorological department, while talking to a private television channel, said that rain between 90mm and 100mm had been recorded in Tharparkar and Thatta districts.
Cautioning owners and operators of small vessels to keep away from the sea, he said that it was expected to be very rough with extraordinarily high waves, adding that the rainfall in the sea would be heavier than the coastal areas.
Farmers, he said, should avoid spraying pesticides on the cotton crop during the next two days, adding that growers should drain excess water from cotton fields to reduce damage to their crop.
Rice crop, he said, would greatly benefit from the current rains.
