HYDERABAD / SUK­KUR: Com­missioner Fay­az Hussain Abbasi has imposed a complete ban on swimming and bathing in the Indus River, as well as in all canals, ponds, distributaries and lakes, across the division.

The step has been taken under Section 144 CrPC to protect citizens from drowning and other water-related hazards, according to a notification issued here on Sunday.

The move followed back-to-back incidents of drowning over the last few days in Hyderabad city and other areas of the division.

More than a dozen people have lost their lives in such incidents since Friday.

Over a dozen youths, children have drowned in Hyderabad and Jacobabad districts within last three days

Citizens have been strictly advised to comply with the ban and avoid entering water bodies for bathing or swimming.

All district administrations within the Hyderabad division have been advised to do the needful and make members of the general public to cooperate with the authorities concerned in this regard.

The district administration of Thatta also issued a notification asking people to avoid risking their lives by entering in any water body in view of possible flooding of their areas during the ongoing monsoon and resulting in a rise in water levels of water bodies.

Thatta Deputy Commissioner Sarmad Ali Bhagat has also advised people to strictly follow the administration’s instructions regarding the risk and hazards.

According to the notification, although the ban has come into effect immediately and will remain in force for the next 30 days, the order can be modified or withdrawn, if deemed necessary, anytime.

The DC noted that rising water levels during the monsoon often attracted families to visit water bodies in large crowds. This, it said, increases the risk of people drowning.

The district administration has directed police to ensure strict enforcement of the ban.

Violators of the ban will face legal action under Section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code, according to the notification.

On Saturday, three youths had gone missing while bathing in the Indus River between Hussai­nabad (Hyderabad) and Kotri.

Bodies of two of them were recovered by the Rescue-1122 staff on Sunday evening. They were identified as Ghulam Rasool and Shahzad while the third one, Faraz, remained missing. All the three youths— aged between 13 and 15 — belonged to the Chandio community and were residents of Sheedi Goth, Qasimabad.

An eight-year-old girl, Zainab, daughter of Naeem Chang, could not be recovered till late Sunday evening. She had gone missing while bathing along with her family members near Pathar Point, beneath the Mehran Bridge on Friday.

Five children drown in Jacobabad

Five children drowned in different irrigation channels in Jacobabad and Thull talukas on Sunday.

A four-year-old boy, Ibrahim Jakhrani, son of Saifullah Jakhrani, drowned after accidentally falling into a canal near the New Water Supply Scheme, falling within the jurisdiction of the Saddar police station. His family and relatives took out and transported him to the Jacobabad Civil Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

Another girl, Veeran Chachar, 8, daughter of Abdul Wahab Chachar, drowned after falling into the Rind Wah (water channel) and taken to the same hospital but she had already died.

Yet another young girl, Sonia Naseerani, accidently fell into a sewage drain while playing near her home and drowned.

In the Thull taluka of the same district, two sisters, Savera and Ayesha, belonging to the Pahor community, drowned after falling into a water pond near their home in Naseer Samejo village.

They were taken to the Tull Taluka Hospita, where doctors pronounce them dead on arrival.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2026