KARACHI/THATTA: High tides rising from the Arabiab sea, that has been going rough to very rough intermittently for the past two days, caused great panic in the villages all along the Karachi-Thatta-Badin coastline forcing several hundred villagers to flee their houses on Thursday.

Thirteen villages comprising 7,000 people around the Kharochann Island and taluka headquarter town of Keti Bundar along the Thatta coastline submerged under knee-deep water as oceanic high tides lashed the area on Thursday.

Out of the 13 villages, six have a population of 2,500 to 3,000, mostly fishermen.

Surrounding the tiny town of Kharochann are villages of Abdullah Mallah, Essa Khaskheli, Majeed Utradi, Haji Qadir Bux, Sher Muhammad Baloch and Esso Malani.

The people living in traditional wooden houses and katcha abodes are waiting for the oceanic water to recede. However, none of the local administration official approached them for any help till the filing of this report late in the evening.

On Kharochann Island, two anchored vessels also came under water, besides a primary school, a police station and two water reservoirs.

In Ketibunder, three villages of Jatt tribe and in Khariyoon creek, three to four villages were submerged. The affected population of Thatta coastline is now waiting for logistic help from the district administration.

Karachi

People living in Sumar village of the Hawkesbay-Sandspit area started fleeing their houses on Thursday night as sea water that had gradually gone down late afternoon started to rise fast.

The evacuation occurred in the wake of a tropical cyclone that was building up in the Arabian Sea over the past two days and now has started moving towards Oman, much to the relief of all those living along the Pakistan’s and India’s coast.

However, a number of low lying coastal villages in Sindh and Balochistan were inundated.

The cyclone named ‘Nanauk’ is likely to intensify within the next 24 hours, according to the Met department.

Speaking to Dawn on phone, a resident of Kakapir village, part of the Sandspit-Hawkesbay area, said Sumar village, adjacent to his town, had been badly hit by high tides and water level had started to rise again in the night.

“People are fleeing their houses amid chaos. There is no government help available. Most houses in the village were inundated while a mosque wall collapsed in the morning when water started to rise fast,” villager Aijaz said.

According to him, high and low tide normally occurs in the monsoon season but it is the first time in 10 years that water is rising to such a high level. “Fishermen have suffered losses due to boats’ collision. The Manora road was flooded in Kakapir village in the morning and was closed to traffic,” he said.

Briefing about situation in other coastal areas, Sami Memon representing the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum said: “Sea water had inundated bout 150 coastal villages in Shah Bandar and Kharo Chann, parts of Sujawal and Thatta districts in the morning, forcing people to run towards elevated land. Though the water has gone down now, fishermen are predicting a water surge by midnight and on Friday.”

Seawater, he said, had also overflowed in many coastal villages along the Karachi coast but did not enter houses. People in Dabla Mola, a village in Rehri union council, were having a hard time as sea water mixed with sewage had entered their houses, he said.

“The village has a faulty sewerage system and water flows backwards in the lines in case of a high tide,” he said. Most of the fishermen out in the sea returned home as soon as they observed bad weather conditions, some took refuge in the mangrove forests and on islands whereas others preferred to stay back, he said. He criticised the government for not providing any support to fishermen, though warnings had been issued on the cyclone forecast.

Naveed Soomro representing the World Wide Fund for Nature, a non-governmental organisation operating in the village for a long time, said it was the first such instance in many years.

“The cyclone is not coming here so we are safe but what would have had happened if it came towards our coastal areas? Besides low lying fishing coastal villages, there are so many huts developed closed to the sea,” he said, regretting absence of official measures in case of a disaster.

Chief meteorologist Sindh-Balochistan Tousif Alam said the cyclone had built up in the eastern parts of the Arabian Seal along the India’s coast and was likely continue moving to towards Oman.

“Right now, it is 80km south-south west of Karachi having central pressure of 986 hPa and 50 to 60 nautical miles (NM) wind speed that can increase up to 80NM. It is likely to turn into a serious cyclone in 24 hours and then go weak gradually by Sunday. It is expected that it would either dissipate in the sea or it would lose its intensity by the time it would reach the coast,” he said.

Badin

The district was not under threat of a cyclone brewing in Arabian Sea, Badin Additional Deputy Commissioner Fazal Hussain Awaisi told Dawn on Thursday. Mr Awaisi said the Badin district administration had not been informed by any high-ups to declare emergency there.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2014