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SUKKUR Fresh breaches made in the Begari canal sent torrents of water gushing towards small towns and villages in Qamber-Shahdadkot district on Wednesday, leading to, at times, forced evacuation of thousands of an already traumatised populace.
Villagers and irrigation officials made valiant attempts to divert the flow towards kutcha areas of the district, but time was fast running out for some settlements, especially Garhi Khairo, from where the floodwaters were only one kilometre away at midnight.
The district coordination officer said that floodwaters could also reach Shahdadkot in 24 hours. Floods coming from Balochistan via Chukhi were also threatening the town.
The DCO said floodwaters were slowly spreading in three directions and people of the Dingano Mahesar union council in the Sujawal Junejo taluka should move to safe places.
He said Qubo Saeed Khan had been evacuated with the help of troops and only a few persons were left in the town to guard their belongings.
The official and local sources said about 60 per cent of the people of Shahdadkot had left the town for Karachi and other areas.
Trucks and tractor-trolleys packed with people and their belongings were seen heading towards Karachi and Hyderabad. Large trucks clogged a bridge on Noorwah, which was declared unfit for heavy traffic.
Embankments were being built around Shahdadkot and Qambar with the help of heavy machinery.
The Sujawal Junejo town was also under threat from floodwaters heading from Garhi Yaseen that has swamped the Golo Daro village.
Sultankot town was cut off from other parts of the district and submerged by about five-foot deep water. The town had been evacuated.
The water level in towns affected by earlier waves of floods was receding but they were likely to remain inundated for several days.
Floodwaters from Bhong embankment in the Sadiqabad area of Punjab entered the under-construction Raini canal and caused breaches at some places.
The National Highway connecting Punjab and Sindh was partially closed near Kot Sabzal.
Water gushing for the breaches inundated several villages along the Sindh-Punjab border.
While all government agencies were busy in relief work, prices of commodities of daily use, especially vegetables and fruits, had increased manifold in the affected areas. Shopkeepers were charging Rs50 to Rs60 for a kilogramme of flour.
A considerable decrease in water level was recorded at Guddu barrage. The flow upstream was 1,001,764 cusecs and downstream 1,001,226 cusecs.
At Sukkur barrage, upstream discharge was 1,007,644 cusecs and downstream 974,489 cusecs.
In Dadu, two artificial breaches of 50 feet were made in an embankment at Aghamani-Nau Goth and Aghamani-Nari road to protect three union councils of Mehar taluka, inundating 15 villages.
However, pressure on the Larkana-Sehwan embankment was mounting.
The Indus was building up pressure along the Right Bank Outfall Drain-II and two 100-foot breaches occurred in a nullah near Laki Shah Saddar, inundating Shahnawaz Mallah, Bhatti, Chohan and Mahar villages.
Water entered the Leghari, Mallah and Lund localities from the north and reached the Laki Shah Saddar shrine. Villagers were trying to repair the town's protective embankment. Standing crops in the area were submerged, but local communities did not leave their homes.
Some parts of the Manjhand embankment were depressed or curved and breaches were likely at these places.
Stones were pitched and sandbags placed along the embankment, but the staff deployed at the embankment was insufficient to cope with an emergency. Some families from the riverine area were camped in a government school in Manjhand. Philanthropists were giving them food.
However, members of the Kolhi community, who worked in Manjhand, wanted to return to Tando Allahyar.
The water level along the embankment rose by up to three feet over the past 24 hours.
Villagers said that the RD4/8 mile location near Lakha village was vulnerable and about 3,000 people had left the inundated area. The Amri area was also facing a threat of flooding.
Efforts were being made to divert the floodwaters into the Manchhar lake, but rains on the Khirthar hills might create waves towards the Indus, endangering areas around Sehwan Sharif.
Some trucks loaded with sand and stones were moving towards Sehwan. Low-lying areas of Lal Bagh were inundated.
A hotline communication mechanism and deployment of experienced irrigation officials at vulnerable places was required to cope with an emergency. About 60 people were marooned in two villages in the Saeedabad kutcha area in Matiari district, although dozens of others had been rescued.
Some people expressed apprehension that the guidelines given in the 'Bund manual' might be ignored and breaches made under pressure from influential figures.
In Thatta, the villages of Karmi Dahiri, Bachu Dahiri and Peeru Parai were submerged near Monarki embankment in Saeedpur area. Several villages in the kutcha area were inaccessible.
Troops were deployed at vulnerable points on the Monarki and Surjani embankments. An army officer said 300 troops had been deployed along the dykes and hundreds of others could be summoned at short notice.
