Water level at Kotri Barrage crosses 900,000 cusecs

Several villages in Hyderabad are inundated as Kotri Barrage braces for the worst flood in 50 years. The super flood passing through Kotri will take at least six days to subside.

The provincial government is monitoring the situation at dykes as the water pressure builds up. More than 900,000 cusecs of water is likely to pass through the barrage.

Irrigation experts said that the current flood torrent has broken the record of the 1976 floods.

Meanwhile flood water has entered parts of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) building in Hyderabad. Water has already caused devastation in Ghauspur, Thul, Jacobabad, Garhi Khairu and other adjoining areas.

Water pressure at Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) III has been reduced by making breaches at three points and efforts are underway to keep the safety dyke in ShahdadKot intact.

Flood torrents from Garhi Khairu and Balochistan have reached Hamal Lake. For the past ten days, transport of food items between Sindh and Balochistan are at a halt due to suspension of the road link between the two provinces.

150,000 survivors at risk again

Fresh flood warnings were issued in Rajanpur district on Monday as district officials ordered the emergency evacuation of areas previously untouched by the fury of the raging torrents.

The warnings put about  half a million people at risk, including 150,000 who had taken refuge from the surrounding areas and were being asked to evacuate on an emergency basis, The Express Tribune has learnt.

A 40-kilometre tract of land stretching from Jampur to Rajanpur tehsil is now under threat. “The second wave has hit us badly,” District Coordination Officer (DCO) Muhammad Usman told The Express Tribune. He said these are areas where people had gathered after escaping the earlier floods.

“We are trying to plug the breach but we have also warned the people to evacuate the area,” he added. He said the River Indus had overflowed its banks and washed away a 20-foot long bank of the Qadra Link Canal. He said the administration was working to strengthen the second embankment wall at Hazoori Wah.

According to him, breaches have been made on three other embankments to deflect som of the water pressure but there was another threat as well because the waters had also washed the bank of the Qadra Link Canal, which is five kilometres away from Fazilpur.

Over 150,000 people from the surrounding areas who had taken refuge in Fazilpur are being asked to evacuate yet again.

By hook[ah] or crook

KARACHI: Frail Sadori Mai may have survived the loss of all her possessions when the flood hit her hometown but she could not overcome the loss of her hookah.

All the survivors gathered at Razzaqabad relief camp in Karachi have their own grievances but Sadori is unique in her sorrows. Her family lost all their earnings in the flood but the loss of Sadori’s hookah was too much to bear for the 60-year-old.

However, her wrinkled face broke into a smile when she got a new one. “I bought this for Rs200,” boasted Sadori, pointing to her newly acquired hookah. “I can survive without roti but I cannot live without hookah,” she claimed.

According to Sadori, she has been smoking hookah ever since she can remember and cannot imagine having to live without it. Even her family is immune to the gurgle of the hookah. “We lost everything in the floods but my mother told us in Jacobabad that if she did not get a hookah she would kill herself,” recalled her son Ahsan Ali.

Over the years, Sadori has seen many tough times and she is saddened by the floods that have made her homeless. But she is hopeful that these times will pass and she will be able to return home. It is this hope that allows Sadori Mai to sit back and relax with a puff or two as she hangs out outside her tent with her neighbours and old friends from Jacobabad.

High-flood torrent passes Rojhan

District Rojhan in Dera Ghazi Khan Division is under threat of going underwater with only some dykes protecting this district from destruction.  A torrent with water-flow of 1,060,000 cusecs a day went through the area on Sunday.

The flood torrent, which is headed towards Sindh, has affected land routes connecting Rojhan with the rest of the country, and the city’s population of nearly 200,000 people awaits help.

In case any dyke protecting the area is broken, it is feared Rojhan city would be inundated within minutes.

Also, the Karachi-Lahore-Peshawar highway has also been flooded near Rahim Yar Khan disconnecting land routes between Sindh and Punjab and although major areas of Rahim Yar Khan District have been saved, nearly 200 villages in the adjoining areas of Bhong, Chachran Sharif, Rukunpur, Tamaldin Wali and Khan Bela have been severely affected by floods.

Over in the Muzaffargarh district, another flood torrent has washed away most of the areas with an exception of Muzaffargarh city, Alipur, Sheher Sultan and Khangarh.

Out of sight, but still in their minds

KARACHI: As the second wave of floods threaten Sindh, some solace can be drawn from the fact that relief efforts are being made across borders and oceans.

The Muslim Students Association at Columbia University, New York is part of this struggle to help those affected thousands of miles away. Even though school is closed, students rallied to raise $15,000 (nearly Rs1.2 million) from different fund-raising activities, including going door-to-door, in Muslim communities, mosques and churches in New York city.

“This money will be donated to the great work being done by the Rural Support Programme and the Armed Forces of Pakistan, while the goods we have received will be air shipped,” Taimur T Malik, president of the Columbia Muslim Students Association told The Express Tribune via email.

Across the ocean, in London, four people, Adil, Fatima, Naz and Hammad, decided that they would hit 10 tube stations for donations and collections on Aug 19 at 8:00 am and Aug 20 the same time. The effort, aptly named ‘Tube Collections for the Pakistan floods’, will ultimately benefit the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) Relief Fund. They can be contacted on facebook or at allforpakistan@gmail.com. Meanwhile on the home front, Iqra University (IU) is also stepping up its game. University management held a meeting with students to discuss relief efforts for people across the province. “We need to play our part as students,” said IU Registrar Akif Hasan. “We have a platform from where we can gather and make efforts to help those in distress.”

Fresh flood warning for Sindh, Punjab

ISLAMABAD: The meteorological department issued fresh flood warnings on Wednesday, putting parts of Punjab and Sindh on alert.

The department warned of floods in Hyderabad district, which could spread devastation further south in Sindh, and issued a “significant” flood forecast for Kalabagh and Chashma in Punjab.

The met department also said that River Indus at Chashma was likely to continue in very-high to exceptionally-high flood, ranging between 0.78 million to 0.82 cusecs on Wednesday and Thursday. At Kotri, it is likely to attain a flood level ranging between 0.6 million to 0.8 million cusecs.

Local governments in both provinces also issued warnings about more flooding in the days ahead, although Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah acknowledged that the immediate danger had passed.

Punjab officials said that more than 90 per cent of the town of Kot Addu had emptied and that flooding had cut electricity and gas production, shutting down thousands of factories.

Bilawal… or Bakhtawar?

KARACHI: Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari has decided to start practical politics in Pakistan very soon.

“Bakhtawar’s decision to enter into the politics of the country is a laudable act, which will bring a new socio-economic development for the democracy loving people, particularly women,” Advisor to Sindh Chief Minister Sharmila Farooqui said in a statement issued from her office on Thursday.

Farooqui said that Bakhtawar, by following the philosophy and wisdom of her mother Benazir Bhutto, would become the beacon of light for the downtrodden women and would struggle to ensure them a high status in society. Farooqui said that she will work parallel to the PPP government for the welfare of the people.

“Bakhtawar will revive her mother’s commitment and struggle for providing justice, freedom, social rights to the people besides raising the flag of her mother’s mission,” the advisor said.

Farooqui said “the time is not far when the daughter of a great mother Benazir Bhutto will rule the hearts of the Pakistani people by following her mother’s struggle to provide rights to the down-trodden people, strengthen democracy and lead the country towards real progress.”

Floods have affected 4.5m people: UN

Devastating floods have affected an estimated 4.5 million people across Pakistan, United Nations officials said on Friday, as relief workers warned that aid needs were “absolutely daunting”.

“The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates globally that 4.5 million people have been affected by the flooding,” said UN spokeswoman Elena Ponomareva, marking an increase of some 300,000 in a day.

Citing estimates from Pakistani authorities, UN relief agencies said an estimated 252,000 homes have been destroyed as relentless monsoon rains continue and flood water roll southwards through some of the poorest parts of the country. “As we’re hearing, the scale of the needs is absolutely daunting,” said Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Floods continue to destroy villages and important facilities in Punjab, while people are not happy with rehabilitation efforts in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Rainfall last night caused the water level in Kot Addu to rise. Thousands of people have been stranded, many of them are homeless and waiting for government aid.

Hundreds of thousands of wheat bags were ruined due to floods at the PASCO center in Kot Adu. Authorities have starting erecting protective embankments around PARCO oil refinery, which is under threat of being submerged as well.

Four Sindh-based students back home from Kyrgyzstan

KARACHI/HYDERABAD/SUKKUR: Four students in Sindh have reached home safely after witnessing the violence in Kyrgyzstan.

Two sisters, Amna and Lubna, arrived in their hometown in Padidan, District Naushero Feroz, on Wednesday. They were greeted by family, friends and neighbours at the railway station and a string of visitors kept coming throughout the day.

“The situation in Osh was really bad,” Lubna told The Express Tribune, as she expressed her gratitude to the government for rescuing them. “We would like to request the government to save our future and allow us to complete our final year of medicine from a university in Pakistan,” she appealed.

Musharraf’s party launched in Sindh

KARACHI: All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), the political party formed by former president Pervez Musharraf, launched its Sindh chapter at the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday.

“We have tapped into trade unions, student organisations and political figures who are soon going to join us,” said Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif while addressing a press conference. However, he did not name any of these organisations or people.

Saif was accompanied by Major General (retired) Rashid Qureshi, the former DG Inter-Services Public Relations and spokesperson for Musharraf, as well as a few retired bureaucrats. “We don’t have to work hard to convince people; they are approaching us in large numbers to become members,” claimed Saif.