KARAK: Eleven people lost their lives in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday and kutcha areas near Guddu and Sukkur barrages in Sindh were inundated, leaving a large number of residents marooned by floodwaters along with their livestock.

At Kalabagh, a fourth peak of high flood developed in the Indus as heavy rains again lashed Punjab and upper parts of the country.

Officials said six women and three children were among 11 people killed when their houses collapsed in different areas of Karak district, raising death toll from rain-related incidents in KP to 18 over the past 24 hours.

Know more: Flood blocks road travel between Punjab, KP

People in Karak said that the rain, which started on Saturday night, continued without respite throughout the day on Sunday, causing incidents of house collapse. Neighbours retrieved bodies from the rubble.

Watercourses in the district were flooded because of downpour which also disrupted power supply, rendering pumping stations inoperative and causing shortage of drinking water in several areas.

People living along River Kabul continued to stay away from their houses in Nowshera and parts of the Peshawar district because of rising levels of the river. Others who had left their houses along swelling streams and nullahs in Peshawar district returned after recession in the water level.

Residents of Camp Koroona in Nowshera, who had fled their houses due to a surge in River Kabul on Saturday, were living in the open along Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway.

According to the Flood Forecasting Division (FFD), Indus is in high flood at Kalabagh and Chashma and in medium flood at Taunsa.

The Federal Flood Commission has warned that very high to high flood in the Indus would affect low-lying riverine areas in Dera Ismail Khan district in KP, Mianwali, Bhakkar and Layyah districts in Punjab and Ghotki, Kashmore, Shikarpur, Sukkur, Khairpur and Larkana districts in Sindh.

The FFD reported very heavy to heavy rains in different parts of Punjab and upper parts of the country over the past 24 hours ending on Sunday evening.

Cherat received 217 millimetres of rain, Mianwali 147mm, Kohat 115mm, Dar-i-Tang 111mm, Risalpur 75mm, Bahawalpur airport 58mm and city 18mm, Dera Ghazi Khan 57mm, Tanda Dam 55mm, Saidu Sharif 51mm, Nowshera 48mm, Sahiwal 45mm, Bahawalnagar 41mm, Peshawar airport 41mm and city 40mm, Shorkot 40mm, Dera Ismail Khan and Okara 39mm, Attock, Khairabad and Bhakkar 38mm, Palandri, Balakot and Sargodha (airport) 36mm, Shinkiari 31mm, Dir 30mm, Tarbela 25mm, Rawalakot 24mm, Mandi Bahauddin 22mm and Lahore (Misri Shah 19mm, city 18mm and Shahdara 16mm.

The Met department said the monsoon low lay over Multan division, moderate moist current was penetrating Punjab and KP and the westerly wave persisted over northern areas.

The combination of the three factors may generate scattered rain with isolated heavy falls in KP, Punjab northeast Balochistan and upper catchments of all major rivers in the next 24 hours. Isolated rain of moderate intensity is likely in upper Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan.

On Sunday, Guddu Barrage’s inflow was recorded at 737,959 cusecs and outflow at 729,338 cusecs. Sukkur Barrage’s upstream discharge was recorded at 642,595 cusecs and downstream at 615,995 cusecs. Kotri Barrage’s inflow was recorded at 241,648 cusecs and outflow at 236,323 cusecs.

In some parts of Sindh, people living in flood relief camps complained that they were facing shortage of water and food. They said that activities of government officials concerned were limited to visits to the barrages and dykes of Indus.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play