SUKKUR/LARKANA: Wides­pread rains coupled with thunderstorm lashed Sukkur, Ghotki, Kandhkot-Kashmore, Jacco­babad, Larkana, Shaheed Ben­azir­abad, Naushahro Feroze and parts of some other district late on Saturday evening causing a massive power outage and flooding.

Although the downpour that continued into the morning turned weather pleasant, the unexpectedly heavy and widespread rainfall crippled routine life in upper Sindh as well as parts of central and lower areas of the province on Sunday.

Met Office recorded 24mm rainfall in Larkana and 55mm in Sukkur, saying moderate rainfall was also recorded in several other districts by Sunday morning. It forecast more rains in the next 24 hours.

There were no reports of casualties but a small building already damaged during recent rains collapsed in Larkana while strong winds that swept through the rain-hit areas brought down a large number of hoardings, trees, electricity poles and roofs of small houses in urban areas, besides causing considerable damage to thatched houses in rural areas.

Abandoned building collapses in Larkana

It started raining in Sukkur, Ghotki, Kandhkot-Kashmore and Jaccobabad at around 8:30pm after a dust storm swept through the region. It caused visibility to diminish to a grant extent. People had to park their vehicles along roadsides to avoid accidents. The local population felt breathing problem for about half an hour before the dust settled with the start of rainfall.

A massive power outage hit all rain-hit areas as almost all feeders tripped one after the other. The power utilities managed to restore electricity in some areas a few hours later but there were reports of the outage having prolonged for up to 18 hours.

A PIA flight (PK-537) that took off from Sukkur airport had to be diverted to Nawabshah due to bad weather, which also disrupted trains’ schedule. Most trains services ran four to six hours behind their schedule causing great hardship to thousands of intending travellers waiting at various stations.

The rainfall resulted in urban flooding as the sewerage system totally collapsed. Vehicular traffic went off the roads and highways as soon as the dust storm hit the area and remained so till Sunday morning, when vehicles started emerging though in a very smaller number than normal.

LARKANA: The entire district received heavy rain on Saturday night inundating low-lying areas and causing severe disruption in road communication. Electricity went off with the first drop of rain and was restored after about an hour.

A building located near old Royal Cinema that housed a shoe store collapsed during the downpour. Operator of the store said the structure had already damaged during the recent rains and, therefore, it was not opened. The adjacent buildings also escaped any damage while the store structure caved in.

Municipal staff started clearing the debris soon after the incident.

NAUSHAHRO FEROZE: Many areas of this district including Naudhahro Feroze city, Moro, Mithiani, Bhriya City, Kandiaro, Mehrabpur and Padidan towns as well as rural areas received moderate rains on Friday night and Saturday.

The rainfall and flooding caused considerable damage to standing crops, mainly of cotton.

Separately, Darbelo minor (irrigation channel) sustained two breaches, one 15-foot-wide and the other 10-foot-wide at RD 37 near Molhan village along Naushahro Feroze-Tharu Shah link road on Saturday.

The deluge gushing out of the breach washed away standing cotton and vegetable crops, besides inundating the link road.

Affected growers held local irrigation officials responsible for the breach saying that they ignored repeated requests to strengthen the weak dykes when water level in the channel was constantly rising. They said the officials’ sheer negligence caused heavy losses to growers.

While struggling to plug the breach on a self-help basis, they pointed out that neither any official nor labourer or machinery arrived at the site despite the matter having been reported to the local office immediately after the breach.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2019