Jacobabad faces worst disaster in its history
SUKKUR / HYDERABAD: With the approach of a second peak flood, the district of Jacobabad is facing the worst crisis in its history and a number of villages and settlements have been inundated. A large number of people who had moved to areas earlier considered to be safe are now forced to move to other places.
At least 22 people, including women and children, have been swept away by raging waters in Moula Dad, Mehmal, Karim Bux and other areas.
The town itself appears to be safe for the moment, but a reported decision to divert floodwaters into a saline water drain has been strongly opposed by people of adjoining areas. The water was earlier diverted towards the Jacobabad-Dera Murad Jamali bypass.
The authorities have now decided to ease the pressure by draining the flood into the Soomra canal. The canal passes by the estate of former Senate chairman Mohammedmian Soomro and Garhi Sabahayo and the district coordination officer has urged the inhabitants to leave the area.
Meanwhile, government institutions and non-government organisations (NGOs) are facing problems in rescue and relief work because of clashes among supporters of parliamentarians and other influential people.
Floodwaters are touching the walls of the Shahbaz airbase and authorities are trying to save the base.
People are also facing difficulties in reaching out to their relatives because of disruption in the communications system and suspension of rail and road links. Some people said they could not even attend funerals of their relatives.
According to local sources, more than 300,000 people have been affected in areas around Jacobabad. Villagers have lost their property, grain stocks, cattle and standing crops.
About 20,000 people arrived in Sukkur from Jacobabad on Saturday night. They have been accommodated in schools.
Floodwaters from the Begari Sindh feeder have entered Qadri Darbar, Gillani Mohalla, Bhatti colony, Umrani Laro, Sona Khan Rind, Hyder Ali, Sultan Kot, Garhi Khero and Baqa Pul.
Thousands of people moved to Balochistan after water was released into the saline water drain.
A large number of people going to Dera Murad Jamali and Dera Allahyar are stranded because large areas in these districts have also been flooded.
Several incidents of robbery have been reported from different areas of Jacobabad. Some robbers are said to have been apprehended by armymen.
The road and rail link between Quetta and Jacobabad has remained suspended for two weeks.
The pressure of Indus, meanwhile, is increasing at the Kotri barrage where 252,125 cusecs of flow was recorded upstream and a discharge of 227,920 cusecs at 6pm on Sunday.
Army personnel have evacuated 754 people from the Mohammad Khan Machi, Jaffar Machi, Allan Sobcho and Gharo villages in the kutcha area of Matiari district.
A temporary dyke, called the Zamindari bund, has been demolished to ease pressure on the old Hala embankment.
Parts of the incomplete right bank outfall drain-II have been submerged between Sehwan and Sann in Jamshoro district. According to Project Director Rafiq Memon, the drains entire structure has been inundated.
For people arriving in Hyderabad, mostly from Jacobabad, a tent city is being set up on the directives of the chief minister.
The authorities are hard pressed meeting the needs of the people sheltered in camps.
According to the meteorological department, the Indus at Guddu is likely to remain at an exceptionally high level, ranging between one million and 1.1 million cusecs, till Tuesday because of a second flood wave. There are fears about inundation of low-lying areas of Khairpur, Jacobabad, Ghotki and Sukkur.
The condition at Sukkur also indicates a threat of flooding in the low-lying areas of Larkana, Nawabshah, Hyderabad and Naushahro Feroze.
According to irrigation officials, the second flood wave is heading towards Sukkur from the Guddu barrage. They said the water level at Guddu was likely to rise to 1.07 million cusecs.
A few days after withstanding a flow of 1.1 million cusecs, the Sukkur barrage is once again under pressure. On Sunday evening the flow was 1,010,857 cusecs upstream and 975,088 cusecs downstream.
The flow at Guddu was 1,041,390 cusecs.
Cuts made in various embankments have caused havoc in Jacobabad, Shikarpur and some areas in Balochistan.
Sukkur was calm on Sunday after panic sparked a couple of days back by rumours of a breach of the old Sukkur embankment and the Bunder wall.
Almost all the cracks in the Bunder wall have been filled, but the residents of Kutcha Bunder are still living either in relief camps or outside the wall to keep an eye on their homes.
Affected people in most of the camps have complained of lack of food, water and medicines.
Most of the affected people from Jacobabad, Kashmore and Shikarpur are living along the Sukkur bypass and Airport Road and in camps set up in schools and colleges.
Various trade bodies are also providing food and water to the affected people. However, the increasing number of displaced people is becoming unmanageable for the authorities.
Reuters adds:
Local men are digging through an embankment on the outskirts of Jacobabad to drain away steadily rising floodwaters.
Weve got to make a way to get the water away, otherwise Jacobabad will be sunk, said Manzoor Ahmed, who along with others was digging gaps in the embankment.
Were doing this by ourselves. There are no government people here, not a single one. Theyre invisible.
The water being diverted will almost certainly flood another town or village.
They have to look after themselves, Manzoor said. Were protecting ourselves, its up to them to protect themselves.
Jacobabad, a typical Pakistani town with dusty, rutted roads strewn with rubbish lining rows of brick shops, is largely deserted. Some people have piled earth in front of their shops in the hope of keeping water out.
The town is also home to an airbase which the US military has used in support of the Afghan war.
Jamal Shah fled to Jacobabad with his family when his village, about 50km away, was flooded. He is considering where he might go next.
Perhaps the best option is Quetta. Its higher.
Town policeman Abdul Sami thought the town would be inundated in a matter of hours.
A main road out of town which had been dry earlier in the day, was almost impassable by the afternoon.
A motley convoy of trucks stacked high with people and their belongings, cars and herders driving their buffaloes, sheep and goats inched through a long stretch of knee-deep water before eventually reaching dry land.
