The devastating incessant rains and deluge have continued to wreak havoc in Balochistan claiming six more lives, inundating several more villages and cutting off the province with rest of the country through road and rail links.
The fresh spell of monsoon rain that started on June 14 has caused massive destruction in areas where flood-hit people are literally under hot waters.
Due to land sliding and water flowing over the Quetta-Zhob and Quetta-Lorali Highway, connecting Balochistan with Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the traffic system is suspended.
While issuing travel advisory, Assistant Commissioner Karezat Ali Durani said, “People travelling to Punjab and KP through Zhob and Loralai are advised to revisit their travel plan as landsliding at Dana Sar area has caused road blockage.”
According to a report by Directorate of Public Relations, under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner Shirani Ejaz Jaffar, rescue and relief operation has been launched and soon the road will be cleared. On the other hand, rains followed by the flash floods caused road disconnection on highways linking Balochistan with Sindh through Quetta-Khuzdar and Quetta-Sibi Sukhar highways. “An alternate route that was prepared three days ago near Landa River in the Uthal area of Lasbela district has been washed away once again due to gushing water.
“The diversion at the Lasbela has been washed away and traffic on Quetta-Karachi highway is suspended,” DPO Hub Yunus Raza said, requesting people to avoid travelling on the route. Likewise, Balochistan is also cut off through rail link from rest of the country as rail track inundated in Bakhtiarabad, Notal and Dera Murad Jamali area was yet to cleared by the district administration and railway authorities. DC Sibi Qazi said, “Efforts are afoot to flush out water from the track and restore train service as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, Musakhel, Zhob, Pishin, Qila Saifullah, Qila Abdullah, Nasirabad and Lasbela were still receiving torrential rains for the past two days.
Three people including a woman died due to washing away of Khudaidad Zai dam in Pishin district. Hundreds of mud houses were damaged in Qila Saifullah, Muslim Bagh, Musakhail, Kohlu, Dera Bugti, Jhal Magsi, Lasbela and other areas due to incessant rains. District administration, Pak Army, Frontier Constabulary, Levies PDMA teams were trying to rescue people from far-flung areas of the district which were cut-off due to washing away of connecting roads and of bridges.
The monsoon rains and floods in parts of Balochistan have so far claimed 206 lives. According to PDMA reports, 96 men, 48 women and 58 children are among the dead. The reports added that as a result of various accidents, 81 people were also injured. As many as 22,692 houses were damaged by the rains and 18 bridges and 690 kilometers of highways were affected in different areas while over 100,000 cattle have died due to rains.
Meanwhile, two children drowned, while a search operation for six other people was continuing on Thursday after a car was swept away by a flash flood into Malir River of Karachi.
Memon Goth police said a car carrying seven people including the driver was swept away in the river at 8:30pm on Wednesday. It said the car was pulled out of the river while the search for missing persons was continuing.
On Thursday, the rescue workers found bodies of two minor children identified as Amna, 7, and Musa, aged 10 years.
The unfortunate family had come to Karachi from Hyderabad to attend a wedding and was returning to their hometown. Separately, an eyewitness said the car was found floating in the Malir River in the Nabi Bux Bikak area. “But the family could not be located,” he said, adding that the missing persons’ relatives had also joined rescue efforts. Quoting their relatives, he said a family of six, including a couple and their four children, and a driver were travelling in the car. They have been identified as Mohammed Zeeshan Ansari, Rabia, Hamna, Ebad, Mohammed Moosa, and Ayan and their driver, Abdul Rehman.
