KARACHI/PESHAWAR/QUETTA/GILGIT: Heavy rains and flash floods claimed at least 27 lives in various parts of the country on Sunday and Monday with many houses and villages submerged, power supply suspended, standing crops and infrastructure damaged and many remote areas cut off from the rest of the population after the dilapidated roads were either submerged or destroyed.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked authorities to closely monitor measures taken in Sindh, Balochistan and south Punjab to cope with the impending threat of another spell of torrential rains.
In Karachi, as the police and rescue officials reported at least 10 deaths owing to heavy rains from Sunday night to Monday morning, people of the disaster-hit business capital woke up on Tuesday to suspended power supply in several areas and many localities still submerged.
While the first monsoon spell may have ended on Tuesday, the Met office warned a second one is set to begin tomorrow (Thursday) and can last for four days (till Sunday). It forecast “widespread heavy to very heavy rain-wind/thundershowers” across Sindh and Balochistan.
Data compiled by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and Sindh police suggested 49 people had died in the province, including 31 in Karachi alone, in the weeklong monsoon spell from July 4. Out of these, the police data collected from July 4 to 12 showed that 26 people were electrocuted, including 18 in Karachi, and the PDMA mentioned an additional nine coal miners who drowned when rainwater entered a coal mine in Jhimpir area of Thatta. The police also said five people had drowned, while four died in roof/wall collapse accidents in Karachi.
The maximum temperature in Karachi on Monday was recorded at 34.5 degrees Celsius. Although several major roads were mostly cleared by Tuesday morning after a joint nightlong operation by the civil and military organisations, many localities remained submerged and a number of localities, mainly in the south district, complained of suspended power supply even after 24 hours. In the wee hours of Monday, the power breakdown also caused cellular service suspension in the south district.
The city’s sole power utility, K-Electric, cited flooding as the reason behind a delay in power supply restoration. By Tuesday evening, it claimed to have restored supply “to most parts of the city”.
“Just spoke to CM Syed Murad Ali Shah,” tweeted Prime Minister Sharif. “Deeply saddened by the tragic losses due to torrential rains in Karachi. I am confident that the Sindh government will rise to the occasion and bring life back to normal under the able leadership of CM Sindh. [I] Have offered to extend every possible support.”
The Sindh CM, on the other hand, sounded satisfied with his team’s performance when he interacted with the media at the CM House on Monday evening, and said the “unprecedented record rainfall” was beyond the city’s drainage system.
“The city has witnessed an unprecedented record rainfall of 136 milimetres or five inches within 12 hours (8pm Sunday to 8am Monday) and then after a brief break it started again till 11am,” he said. “Our storm water disposal system is not designed for such a heavy downpour.”
The Met office reported on Sunday night the city received up to 106.6mm of rain that intensified on Monday morning to 126.6mm.
Later, the armed forces moved in to assist the civil administration on Monday. Pakistan Navy Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations continued throughout the three days of Eidul Azha in different towns of Karachi. The navy assisted the Sindh PDMA by rescuing locals stranded in flooded homes, shifting them to safer locations and draining flood water with their own sources. The army, too, was active in relief work. As many as 388 dewatering teams of the army, Pakistan Rangers, Frontier Works Organisation and National Logistics Cell cleared the water accumulated on roads and inside buildings.
