Responding to Dawn queries on Tuesday evening, Pakistan Meteorological Department Director-General Dr Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry has predicted widespread rains and thundershowers with isolated heavy rainfall in Sindh over the next 24 hours.
For Karachi, however, he forecast a partly cloudy weather with chances of thundershowers on Wednesday. The maximum temperature is expected to remain between 30 and 32 degrees centigrade.
On Tuesday, the city recorded the minimum temperature of 27 degrees centigrade and the maximum of 32 degrees centigrade with humidity being 75 per cent. The city also received traces of rain.
Regarding the flood situation, the Met chief said that the current hydrological data showed that Sindh, especially the kutcha areas (or the areas that lie close to the Indus river protective embankments), might get affected badly by the extremely high flood conditions in the Indus.
He said water level at Mithan Kot had started rising gradually and the peak water discharge was expected to pass through this area on Wednesday with a discharge ranging between 800,000 and 900,000 cusecs.
He observed that the floodwater level at Guddu had also started going up and at the moment, discharge of around 400,000 cusecs was recorded until Tuesday evening. The peak discharge of 800,000 to 900,000 cusecs — described as exceptionally high flood — was expected by some time on Friday and Saturday, he said, warning that inundation and riverine flooding in all low-lying areas of Ghotki and Sukkur districts was imminent.
Dr Chaudhry said that floodwaters at Sukkur would also start rising from 500,000 to 600,000 cusecs — a high flood level — on Wednesday and could touch the exceptionally high flood level of 800,000 to 900,000 cusecs some time on Friday and Saturday. Such a situation could cause inundation and riverine flooding in all low-lying areas of Sukkur, Larkana, Shaheed Benazirabad (formerly Nawabshah), Dadu, Hyderabad and Naushehro Feroze.
He said that the peak flood ranging between 550,000 and 700,000 cusecs was considered to be exceptionally high flood level for Kotri Barrage which would be passing through it some time on Aug 10 and Aug 11.
