Thatta district hit by floods
KARACHI – Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis were fleeing the Thatta district August 27 after the bloated Indus River crushed a levee and flooded new areas, officials said.
The UN said as many as 1m people have been displaced in the south since midweek.
More than 8m survivors need emergency assistance across the country.
About 1m residents have been displaced in Thatta and Qambar-Shahdadkot since August 25, UN spokesman Maurizio Giuliano said.
A 200-foot-wide breach that developed in the Surjani dike on the Indus River near Kot Alam marooned three towns in Thatta district – Sujawal, Mirpur Bathoro and Darro – having a population of 400,000, Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo said.
The flood could inundate Thatta city if it overcomes the nearby Bijora dike, he said.
The Bijora dike is facing tremendous pressure at the Kotri Barrage on the Indus River, where the inflow of water increased August 27 to 0.964m cusecs, higher than the barrage’s designed maximum of 0.7m cusecs, Dharejo said. In 1952 the barrage withstood a 0.8m-cusec flood.
“A vast majority of the 0.3m-strong population of Thatta city has already migrated to safe locations as the government forewarned them,” said Sindh Minister for Culture Sassui Palijo, a Thatta resident.
For the past two weeks, the district administration has been strengthening dikes and evacuating residents.
Kotri Barrage will remain a flood threat for several more days, said Palijo, adding that the government has taken precautions to minimise flood casualties and damage.
Indus River water heading seaward
The Indus River’s waters began pouring into the Arabian Sea the night of August 26. The deluge at Kotri Barrage will submerge into the sea at Indus Delta at Kharo Chhan and KATI Bunder, Sindh irrigation officials said.
The inflow at the Guddu and Sukkur barrages has fallen to safe levels, about 0.6m cusecs, and by the end of next week, Kotri Barrage’s water levels will stabilise too, officials said.
Floods said to cause $6.5 billion in losses in Sindh
Sindh province has suffered $6.5 billion in losses from the unprecedented flooding, Sindh Chief Minister Economic Adviser Dr Kaiser Bengali told media in Karachi.
The housing sector lost about US $3 billion as floods devastated millions of homes in six districts, Bengali said.
Losses will only grow once the extent of ongoing damage to southern Sindh is calculated, Bengali added.
Sindh’s flood losses will outstrip those of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, he said.
The Sindh government will have to trim its development expenditures in order to aid flood victims in relief camps, he said.
Original Post @http://centralasiaonline.com
The UN said as many as 1m people have been displaced in the south since midweek.
More than 8m survivors need emergency assistance across the country.
About 1m residents have been displaced in Thatta and Qambar-Shahdadkot since August 25, UN spokesman Maurizio Giuliano said.
A 200-foot-wide breach that developed in the Surjani dike on the Indus River near Kot Alam marooned three towns in Thatta district – Sujawal, Mirpur Bathoro and Darro – having a population of 400,000, Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo said.
The flood could inundate Thatta city if it overcomes the nearby Bijora dike, he said.
The Bijora dike is facing tremendous pressure at the Kotri Barrage on the Indus River, where the inflow of water increased August 27 to 0.964m cusecs, higher than the barrage’s designed maximum of 0.7m cusecs, Dharejo said. In 1952 the barrage withstood a 0.8m-cusec flood.
“A vast majority of the 0.3m-strong population of Thatta city has already migrated to safe locations as the government forewarned them,” said Sindh Minister for Culture Sassui Palijo, a Thatta resident.
For the past two weeks, the district administration has been strengthening dikes and evacuating residents.
Kotri Barrage will remain a flood threat for several more days, said Palijo, adding that the government has taken precautions to minimise flood casualties and damage.
Indus River water heading seaward
The Indus River’s waters began pouring into the Arabian Sea the night of August 26. The deluge at Kotri Barrage will submerge into the sea at Indus Delta at Kharo Chhan and KATI Bunder, Sindh irrigation officials said.
The inflow at the Guddu and Sukkur barrages has fallen to safe levels, about 0.6m cusecs, and by the end of next week, Kotri Barrage’s water levels will stabilise too, officials said.
Floods said to cause $6.5 billion in losses in Sindh
Sindh province has suffered $6.5 billion in losses from the unprecedented flooding, Sindh Chief Minister Economic Adviser Dr Kaiser Bengali told media in Karachi.
The housing sector lost about US $3 billion as floods devastated millions of homes in six districts, Bengali said.
Losses will only grow once the extent of ongoing damage to southern Sindh is calculated, Bengali added.
Sindh’s flood losses will outstrip those of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, he said.
The Sindh government will have to trim its development expenditures in order to aid flood victims in relief camps, he said.
Original Post @http://centralasiaonline.com
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