MITHI: Torrential rains coupled with cyclonic winds caused widespread devastation in Nagarparkar, Islamkot and Diplo talukas of Tharparkar region on Friday night and Saturday.

Under the influence of cyclone Biparjoy, which mainly hit the Indian state of Gujarat after creating chaotic conditions across the coastal belt of Sindh, most parts of Mirpurkhas, Badin, Tharparkar and Umerkot districts received heavy rainfall, besides dust storms, thunderstorms and many back-to-back spells of light, moderate and heavy spells of rain, over the last four days.

In the three talukas of the desert region, residents told the media on Saturday evening that over the last 24 hours of continuous downpour, hundreds of the houses and other structures were destroyed rendering thousands of people homeless and leaving a large number of animals dead.

They said gusty winds not only uprooted countless trees, but also blew away roofs of thatched houses across the region.

Cyclonic winds, 24-hour downpour causes widespread devastation in many areas

“Some people also received injuries during the storms and downpour,” residents of several villages said.

According to local officials, Nagarparkar received the maxim of 270mm rainfall, followed by Mithi (196mm), Diplo (175mm) and Islamkot (143mm).

They believed that it was a record rainfall in this arid zone of the country for the month of June. The people who lost their houses, livestock and other valuables demanded adequate compensation and urged the government to immediately order a survey to assess the losses caused to each family in the affected region.

Taking advantage of a long break in rainfall on Saturday evening, peasants hurried to start preparing their lands for the sowing of their traditional crops.

Several thousand Tharis, who had moved to the barrage areas of other districts due to a long dry season and sizzling weather conditions, also started returning to their homes with their cattle.

Tharparkar Deputy Comm-issioner Lal Dinu Mangi claimed that accumulated rainwater had been drained in many areas with the help of heavy machinery as well as pumping machines operated with power generators.

He said efforts for rehabilitation of people and their homes were under way at different places. Higher authorities had also been informed of the extensive damage caused by the cyclonic winds and downpour in Tharparkar.

Relevant departments have also been contacted to assess the losses to crops, livestock, roads, schools and buildings. The rehabilitation on a large scale would be started once the assessments process was completed, he said.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2023