MUZAFFARGARH: Panic gripped Muzaffargarh and suburbs on Saturday night and Sunday as thousands of people scampered to avoid flood.

A number of people hit out at the district administration for allegedly delaying a breach in Doaba dyke to save a textile mills on Multan-Muzaffargarh Road. Officials were forced to breach the dyke when hundreds of people protested against the government.

Former MPA Irshad Sial alleged that the administration had exposed the district to elemental fury to facilitate an industrialist. He said he would record his statement if an inquiry would be conducted into the disaster.

He said Doaba dyke had to be breached four days ago but it was done only when hundreds of homes and crops had been damaged.

The city witnessed shortage of fuel, food items and other daily-use items. Worse still, the transport operators and traders charged people at will.District Coordination Officer Hafiz Shaukat Ali said he would take all possible measures to save the city. He said evacuation in areas around the city began and he had demanded a helicopter for rescue operation.

Hundreds of people rushed to the DCO office to get transport facility to move to safe places but to no avail.

District Officer Coordination Karim Bakhsh said the administration was arranging the vehicles and he was alive to his responsibility of evacuating people. He said the water level was reduced after breach in Doaba dyke.

He said food items were sent to those areas where there was no relief camp through helicopter by army officials.

After the breach the water hit Rohri, Pir Jahanian, Khangarh and Qadirpur Saleh where thousands of houses and crops over acres were destroyed.

Nabi Bakhsh, a farmer, was in tears as he saw his abode being washed away. He deplored that flood in Muzaffargarh was not a natural disaster but a result of negligence of the authorities who delayed dyke breach. He said his family was awaiting food items in Tulheri.

Representatives of some NGOs are trying their best to provide food and other items to the people in the flood-hit areas.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2014