LARKANA: Two sisters died after they came under a date-palm tree in Qaisar Sandelo village, 10 kilometres from here, and an unspecified number of trees fell and signboards blew away when strong winds accompanied by heavy rain pounded Larkana and Qambar-Shahdadkot districts on Friday.

The young sisters identified as Isra and Nafisa Sandelo had taken refuge from the rain and thunderstorm under the tree but gusty winds uprooted it and it fell on them, killing them on the spot.

It appeared the rain had caught the Larkana Municipal Corporation unprepared as no arrangements were put in place to drain out rainwater, which quickly flooded low-lying in the absence of electricity.

The gusty winds uprooted trees and blew away signboards along main roads of SSP Chowk, VIP Road, Chandka Medical College Hospital (City block), Kennedy Market, Jailes Bazaar, Mirokhan Chowk, Empire Road, Phull Road, Nazar Mohalla, Bhains Colony, Faisal Colony and other areas, which were also flooded with rainwater.

Rainwater submerged almost all low-lying areas apparently due to unpreparedness of local bodies to face the situation, and electricity went off which further aggravated the situation in Larkana city.

The prolonged power outage has created drinking water scarcity in the city.

Prolonged power outage hindered sanitation workers’ efforts for draining out rainwater from roads. Rescue 1122 staffers rescued a man trapped in a room on the third floor of a building near the session court and removed fallen trees to clear the road.

Sukkkur Electric Power Company’s spokesperson said in a press release that 155 11kV feeders of 35 grid stations tripped during heavy rain and thunderstorm. The SEPCO teams later restored power supply to 141 feeders but 14 feeders still remained closed due to technical faults, he said, adding work on the restoration of power and removal of faults was under way, he said.

Similar reports were received from Qambar, Shahdadkot, Nasirabad, Dokri, Badah and other adjoining areas in both the districts.

Mohenjo Daro ruins safe

The heavy rain also lashed Mohenjo Daro ruins but the structures dried up quickly due to hot weather, hence the downpour did not cause any damage to the site, said curatorial staff at the site.

Local Met office recorded 42 mm rain after continuous downpour for over an hour. The sky was still overcast with dark clouds and more rain was likely to hit the two districts late in the night.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2024