LARKANA/DADU, July 1: Four people were killed as heavy rains again lashed different parts of the province on Sunday, with floodwater inundating 350,000 acres of land in Qambar-Shahdadkot district and over 20,000 people of 200 villages in Dadu district waiting to be evacuated.
The entire population of the Qubo Saeed Khan area in Qambar-Shahdadkot district have shifted to safe places, while breaches in flood protective (FP) bund submerged 30 villages in the district.
District Nazim Nawab Shabir Ahmed Chandio urged the government to declare Qambar-Shahdadkot a calamity-hit area.
The irrigation authorities failed to plug the breaches because of the mounting water pressure. A breach has occurred in Qubo Shakh, near 97-bridge, which posed a threat to the Shahdadkot town. The water pressure on Safiullah Magsi branch continued to increase. The floodwater has entered many villages in the district.
The situation has worsened in most parts of the province as relief goods are not reaching the affected people. They complained that army boats were running without motors, hampering rescue operations.
PPP leaders, led by provincial president Syed Qaim Ali Shah, on Sunday visited Qubo Saeed Khan, Chukhi and 97-bridge areas and distributed relief goods. They criticised the government for its failure to provide relief to the affected people.
An official of the Sindh Abadgar Board said rains and floodwater had affected the paddy crop in the province. “The flood has not only destroyed paddy nurseries but also uprooted the recently transplanted paddy seedlings,” he added.
A man and two children were killed while seven people were injured in rain-related incidents in Nawabshah. A man fell from a tractor near Qubo Saeed Khan and died.
Nawabshah and adjoining areas, including Sakrand, Qazi Ahmed, Daur, 60-Miles, Jam Saheb, Buchheri and other towns received heavy rains.
More than 20,000 people in the Kachho area of Dadu are waiting to be evacuated.
Officials of the federal, provincial and district governments are yet to visit the flooded areas.
According to PPI, due to some differences between federal minister Liaquat Jatoi and MPA Sanjeela Leghari, relief goods could not be dispatched to the stranded people.
