THATTA, Aug 25: Raging floodwaters overflowed its banks into standing crops on about 20,000 to 25,000 acres in four union councils of the district on Wednesday.

The floodwaters flowed to the empty Right Bank Outfall Drain after inundating large swathes of the agricultural land and caused the drain's embankments to develop breaches at several places.

The overflow has occurred in the limits of Tando Hafiz Shah, Jherruk, Raju Nizamani and Chhatto Chand union councils, according to PPP MPA Sadiq Ali Memon.

He said that the floodwaters would render irreparable losses to growers and peasants and shrink resources of livelihood, leading to mass starvation.

Millions of rupees worth crops of banana, sugarcane, paddy, water melon, cotton, vegetables and coconut on 20,000 to 25,000 acres had been inundated, he said.

Mr Memon said that the flooded land included forest land acquired on lease in Baao Purandas, Veeran and other jungles along the right bank the river.

However, the KB Feeder Lower Bund and the protective bund along the National Highway had greatly contained flow of floodwaters, which would ultimately drop back into the Indus after travelling across hilly terrain of Jherruk, he said.

He said there was no immediate threat to the National Highway and the legendary Keenjhar Lake and urged the government to announce incentives for agriculture and declare entire Thatta district as calamity stricken.