QUETTA: The largest province remained disconnected from the country on Saturday as 12 more people lost their lives as a result of devastation caused by torrential rains and flash floods, officials told Dawn.

In view of the worsening situation, Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa ordered Lt Gen Asif Ghafoor, who heads the Southern Command, to assist the provincial government in rescue and relief operations.

The deaths were reported from Jaffarabad, Barkhan and Khuzdar districts.

A family of five in Goth Mir Khan Sobdrani in Gandakha area of Jaffarabad was killed instantly as the roof of their mud house caved in, official sources confirmed.

In another incident, three of a family were killed in Dera Bugti district when their house’s roof collapsed.

Separately, three people were killed in Jaffarabad’s Usta Muhammad area, while one death was reported in Khuzdar.

Meanwhile, heavy rains continued in Chaman, Kohlu, Nasirabad, Jaffar­abad, Jhal Magsi, Musa­khail, Noshki, Khuzdar, Lasbela districts.

In Sohbatpur district, a large number of mud houses collapsed as floodwater submerged dozens of villages.

A new torrent of flash floods also hit the already devastated Noshki where several residential areas including Mall, Butto and Kaishangi came under water, piling on the miseries of flood victims.

According to reports, a pick-up vehicle was washed away in the Kaishangi area and search was underway for the passengers.

Several passengers were stuck between Dalbandin, Noshki and Kharan after the heavy rains followed by flash floods hit the areas.

The province was still almost completely cut off from the rest of the country, after traffic on all highways, other than the Quetta-Sukkur Highway, was suspended.

The province’s rail link was also suspended for many days due to damage to railway tracks at several points.

The Quetta-Lasbela-Karachi Highway has been closed for several days after a bridge at Uthal was washed away, while the traffic on Quetta-Zhob and Quetta-Lorali highways connecting Balochistan with Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was also suspended for the last two days.

The railway track at Notal and Dera Murad Jamali was inundated in flood water, suspending service between Balochistan and the rest of the country.

According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), traffic was resumed between Bela and Awaran after a damaged bridge was repaired. The Gwadar-Ratodero M-8 Motorway was still cut off near Khuzdar. The repair work could not be initiated as the road was still submerged.

The Khuzdar-Basima Sector of N-30 National Highway was cut off near Kodak due to overflow of seasonal nullahs, while Zhob-Dera Ismail Khan N-50 National highway was cut off at Danasar.

COAS directs to mobilise resources for relief activity

According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), General Qamar Javed Bajwa asked Commander Southern Command Lt Gen Asif Ghafoor to assist the provincial government in rescue and relief operations, .

The COAS also directed Lt-Gen Ghafoor to utilise the army’s resources to help the affected population and restore critical communication infrastructure.

“Pakistan Army stands with flood affected population in this difficult testing time and shall undertake this assistance effort as national obligation,” ISPR quoted the COAS as saying.

Also on Saturday, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt Gen Akhtar Nawaz dispatched relief goods to flood-hit areas of Sindh. Speaking at the occasion, he admitted that that Balochistan was the worst hit region

Ali Raza Rind in Chagai and Ali Jan Mangi in Dera Murad Jamali also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2022