Ilyas Kamboh, Manan Mandokhail, Syed Ali Shah:
QUETTA, LASBELA: Hundreds of people were stranded in flood water after torrential rains played havoc in Balochistan’s Lasbela, Jhal Magsi, Kech, Panjgur, Killa Abdullah, Killa Saifullah and Khuzdar districts. “The third spell of monsoon has inflicted heavy damages in Lasbela”, Naseer Ahmed Nasar, the Director-General of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said.
Videos shared on social media networks showed dozens of men, women and children stranded in flood water in the Lasbela district of Balochistan. PDMA rescue workers have been evacuating the affected people to safer places for the last two days. “A child died, others are at risk”, a black-bearded flood-affected young man laments in a video. The video was widely shared on social media networks. The man said, “three days on, no helicopter and nothing came to our rescue”.
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Floods swept away various portions of the Quetta-Karachi highway
Flash floods unleashed by heavy rainfall swept away different portions of the Quetta-Karachi highway, which has caused the suspension of traffic. Commissioner Kalat Division, Muhammad Dawood Khilji has directed the transporters and private vehicle owners to avoid traveling on the national highway.
#Lasbela hundreds stranded in floods, so far no effective rescue operation to rescue people #Balochistan pic.twitter.com/rXEqI78poM
— Quetta Voice (@VoiceQuetta) July 27, 2022
“We are making efforts to ensure restoration of traffic by tomorrow”, Mr. Khilji told the Daily Quetta Voice. He said the administration was providing foodstuff to the people stranded at various locations on the highway.
Also Read: Torrential rain exposed drainage system in Quetta
“I have been stranded in floods since yesterday”, Muhammad Ismail, a resident of Lasbela told this scribe via telephone. He said floods have affected the communication system and caused the disruption of the internet in the area. “We are waiting for the DPMA’s rescue teams”, Mr. Ismail said.
Like Ismail, hundreds of people were stranded and some of them sought refuge in their hut-like houses to protect themselves from floods.
“PDMA using Balochistan government helicopter”
The Balochistan Chief Minister, Mir Quddus Bizenjo directed the PDMA and civil administration to double their efforts to rescue the stranded people. “PDMA using the government’s helicopter on the directives of the CM in the rescue and relief operation”, the Spokesman CM Secretariat told Daily Quetta Voice.
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Floods have also swept away the main bridge connecting Balochistan with Sindh at Hub. This has caused the suspension of a road link with Sindh province. Former Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan took to social media network Twitter and shared the damaged bridge.
Floods have also swept away the main bridge in Panjgur causing the suspension of traffic with the rest of the province.
Floods have wreaked havoc in various parts of Balochistan, caused the suspension of traffic, and destroyed standing crops on 197000 acres of land. Floods have also damaged over 6,000 mudwalled houses in the province.
