June 25, 2007	Monday	Jamadi-us-Sani 09, 1428

QUETTA, June 24: Three fishing boats are reported missing between Ormara and Pasni as tidal waves wreaked havoc on the coastal townships of Gadani and Sur Bandar while torrential rains caused widespread damage to property in central Mekran.

However, no loss of life was reported.

Cyclonic winds with gusts of up to 60 knots an hour hit Ormara early on Sunday, damaging property in the area.

Later, it hit the area between Pasni and Ormara, where three fishing vessels were believed to have been struck by strong winds and high waves. No news was available about the boats till the filing of this report.

However, the storm’s intensity had subsided when the cyclone hit Gwadar in the afternoon. It caused rains with winds were still strong which destroyed more than 20 small fishing vessels anchored there without any protection in absence of a jetty other than the Gwadar Fish Harbour.

At least 15 houses were reportedly damaged in the Sur Bandar area, near Gwadar, while high waves eroded coastal areas at least 800 feet inland from the coast. Earlier the erosion was confined to just 600 feet away from the coast.

In Gadani, erosion washed coastal protective embankment meant to prevent soil erosion in the coastal region. There was no damage to fishing boats in Gadani or Sonmiani regions.In central Mekran, intermittent Monsoon rains wreaked havoc as most seasonal rivers, mainly Kech Kaur and Nihing River, were overflowed their banks. Human settlements and fields in upstream of the Mirani Dam reservoir as back as 20 miles were inundated, including areas around Solbund, Baloch Abad, Ghori, Nau Dez and Nasirabad.

The subsoil water level is constantly rising in the upstream though the Wapda authorities had opened the spillway of Mirani Dam to protect the main structure. Low-lying areas along the Dasht River are flooded for the past several days.

Rain was also reported in Nushki, Nokundi and Quetta suburbs. Experts predicted more rains in central and parts of eastern and northern Balochistan, mainly in the Loralai region.