June 30, 2007	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 14, 1428

LARKANA, June 29: Gushing waters from eight breaches in the flood protective bund near Khudadad Khoso in Shahdadkot, some 70 kms from here, submerged more than 50 villages on Friday. A large number of people were rendered homeless.

Reports reaching here from Shahdadkot said the bund gave way when it could not sustain the pressure of the torrents coming from Balochistan.

The villages which have been inundated include Khudad Khan Khoso, Sachal Solangi, Gul Hassan Magsi, Jan Mohammad Khoso, Khushhal Khan Magsi, Niaz Ahmed Khoso, Mujeebur Rehman Magsi, Illahi Bakhsh Khoso, Murad Magsi and Bago Daro.

Huts and mud-houses collapsed and animals were swept away. Grain and other foodstuff were destroyed in the water. Mujeebur Rehman Magsi said from Chukhi that flood water was heading towards Qubo Saeed Khan. He regretted that no help from the government had reached the affected areas.

He said that people were living in the open and the water level was constantly rising.

Sources in Shahdadkot said water had inundated paddy nurseries.

Hundreds of people were stranded in the villages with no contact with the outside world.

Reports reaching from Qambar and Gabidero said that a fresh spell of rain in Khairthar on Friday had increased the flow in the streams. Some villages around Gabidero have been inundated.

DADU: The level of the Manchhar Lake is rising with water continuously flowing from the Nai Gaj and streams over the past few days. Irrigation officials were releasing water into the Indus River in order to lower the lake’s level.

According to irrigation officials, the water level of the Nai Gaj Nala had risen to 112.4 ft on Friday. The situation would become dangerous if the level reached 116 ft, they said.

At least 10 villages have been inundated in the Faridabad Mado area.

The district government could not start relief work in the area as all roads leading to the villages in the Kachho area between Fardeebad, Chinni and Mado have been inundated.

Some NGOs and a multinational oil and gas company have hired four boats to shift people to the protective bund.

Engineer Habibullah Kabooro told Dawn that water from the mountain range of Sindh and Balochistan had entered Sindh through Qambar-Shahdadkot and was now moving towards the west of Dadu.