KARACHI: Mirpurkhas, Badin, Tharparkar and Sanghar districts received widespread rains for a fifth consecutive day on Sunday adding to the miseries of people who had been facing flooding and breakdown of essential utilities including electricity, water supply and sewerage.

Two persons were killed in Mirpurkhas district and another one in Badin district in rain-related incidents on Sunday. Several people were injured in incidents of roof and wall collapse in different parts of the four districts.

BADIN: heavy to moderate spells of rain pounded Badin, Nindo Shaher, Khoski, Talhar, Tando Bago and other towns as well as the rural areas of the district starting at 3:30 pm.

Owing to the collapse of the drainage system after the first downpour on Wednesday, two-three foot rainwater accumulated in most rural areas including Kadhan , Behdmi and Bugra Memon villages destroying standing crops over hundreds of acres. Villagers were seen moving to safe areas along with their animals.

Most parts of the district experienced power outages of long duration on Sunday while in certain areas electricity could not be restored since Wednesday.

Life in the entire district remained paralysed for a fifth consecutive day due to intermittent rain and flooding.

A woman, Khadija Jamali, 45, was killed when lightning struck a place in Karam Ali Khan Chang village on Sunday. She was collecting fodder from the fields in the village near Badin city when fell victim to lightning.

In Mohammed Rahim Leghari village near Gulab Leghari town, a three-year-old boy, Sanaullah Leghari, was electrocuted when he touched a live wire within his home.

Deluge in Tando Bago drain gaining pressure from rainwater caused a 50-foot-wide breach in the drain’s dykes at RD-55 near Nindo Shaher. Flooding resulting from the breach swept away several villages and standing crops.

A 30-foot-wide breach also occurred in the dykes of the Shadi Small Wah (irrigation channel) near Pangrio town. As a result, several villages and crops over a vast farmland submerged.

MITHI: A thunderstorm coupled with heavy to moderate rain hit the Islamkot, Mithi, Diplo, Kaloi and other towns in Tharparkar district on Sunday.

No casualties were reported on the fifth day of intermittent rain in the district on Sunday.

Thari families who had moved to other parts of Sindh to escape starvation amid a long dry season were seen returning home in groups to cultivate their lands with rain water now abundantly available to them, at least for the time being.

MIRPURKHAS: Mirpurkhas city and several other towns and villages of the district also received rain late on Saturday evening.

Flooding in most of the areas aggravated as stagnant rainwater could not be drained out over the past four days. Electric supply to the areas also remained suspended though it was restored in Mirpurkhas city after an eight-hour-long breakdown.

A young man, Paro Kolhi, was electrocuted when he touched a fan within his home during rain in Degan Rasti village of Kot Ghulam Mohammed on Sunday. .

A 10-year-old tirl, Shrimati Mamta, was killed when the roof of a roof and walls of her thatched house collapsed during rain in Deh 218 near the same town.

A five-year-old boy, Navesh, was injured when the wall of his house collapsed in Deh 257 in another village. He was taken to the Kot Ghulam Mohammed Taluka Hospital for treatment and later referred to the Digri Taluka Hospital. In a similiar incident,

Shrimati Neno Meghwar was injured when the roof of her house collapsed during rain in Deh 211.

SANGHAR: Several spells of moderate to heavy rain continued to lash most parts of Sanghar district for a fourth straight day on Sunday.

The towns badly affected by rain and flooding included Sanghar city, Tando Adam, Khipro, Shahdadpur, Shahpur Chakar, Sinjhoro and Jam Nawaz Ali.

Sada Wah (irrigation channel) near Shahpur Chakar developed a 30-foot-wide breach causing flooding that hit Amanullah Daheri and two adjacent villages.

Resident of Sanghar city held a sit-in outside the local press club on Sunday against unavailability of electricity in their localities for several days. They kept the Sanghar-Mirpurkhas road blocked for about three hours.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2016