Five children died across Balochistan while four people lost their lives in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over the past day as monsoon rains continued to wreak havoc countrywide, officials said on Tuesday.
Deaths mount countrywide as various areas continue to receive monsoon showers along with the remnants of cyclonic storm Asna that brought with it heavy rains for Sindh and Balochistan.
Since July 1, a total of 39 people have died in Balochistan in rain-related incidents, Younus Mengal, head of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority’s control room, (PDMA) told Dawn.com.
The deceased include 19 children, five of whom died in three separate incidents on Monday, Mengal said.
The PDMA official said a new spell of rain entered Balochistan a day ago and was expected to continue till tonight in 22 districts. Relief and rescue efforts were under way in the province, he added.
Detailing the deadly incidents, Mengal said a pair of brothers drowned in flashfloods in Zhob District, and their bodies were recovered by the district administration and the PDMA.
In Khuzdar District’s Tootak area, three children were “immediately rescued” by Levies officials after they fell into a dam but were taken to a hospital, where two of them passed away, the official said. A fifth minor, Mengal added, drowned in a flash flood passing by the Kech River in Kech District.
The PDMA official confirmed that 11 Balochistan districts have been declared calamity-hit as of yet, where the authority’s aid efforts were under way.
Mengal further said that in view of alerts by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), holidays of PDMA and other government employees had been suspended.
According to a PDMA report issued on Monday, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, 17 people have been injured in rain-related incidents across Balochistan from July 1 to September 1.
Some 895 houses have been completely damaged while more than 14,000 have been partially damaged during the period, with Khuzdar and Jaffarabad being the most affected.
Over 111,400 people province-wide have been affected by the rains as seven bridges, 74 kilometres of roads and seven medical health units have been left damaged.
On the agricultural side, 58,830 acres of crop have been affected while 373 livestock have perished so far.
4 killed in KP over past day; KKH reopened
Meanwhile, four people lost their lives as heavy rainfalls lashed parts of KP during the last 24 hours, a report issued by PDMA spokesperson Anwar Shahzad said.
According to PDMA, three persons died after a bus was struck by a landslide in Upper Kohistan, while a minor was struck by lightning in Malakand District.
Meanwhile, the Karakoram Highway, which had been blocked last night due to heavy downpours, was reopened for all kinds of traffic on Tuesday.
Several vehicles, including a bulldozer, were stuck on Monday night due to landslide debris brought by the flooding water in the Shukryat area of Upper Kohistan. The clearance of the road today allowed stranded passengers to leave for their destinations.
National Highway Authority (NHA) Deputy Director Ghulam Abbas confirmed to Dawn.com that the road was blocked at the Dasu area but now was reopened for all traffic.
He said the vehicles stuck in the floods (mudslides) had also been pulled out from the debris.
Reiterating the same, Upper Kohistan District Police Officer Mukhtiar Ahmad, said vehicles stranded on both sides had left for their destinations safely.
The PDMA report said that the scenic tourist hotspot, Kumrat Valley Road in Upper Dir’s Thal area, was blocked after parts of it caved in after massive floods hit the area.
It added that authorities in Upper Dir and other districts had been asked to reopen the roads for traffic at the earliest and establish alternate routes for commuters.
According to the report, 96 people had died and 133 injured across KP in rain-related incidents from July 1 to September 2 (Monday).
A total of 963 houses had been damaged due to flash floods and heavy downpours during the period.
Shahzad, the PDMA official, said that relief activities had been launched in the affected areas and the authority was in close liaison with the district authorities.
Punjab witnesses heavy showers; Sindh residents brace for more rain
According to a weekly outlook issued by the PMD, monsoon currents from the Bay of Bengal were penetrating the upper and central parts of the country, which could result in heavy rains today in those regions.
Rainfall records for the past 24 hours upto 8am today showed that Lahore continued to receive heavy rainfall, with Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) gauges measuring 201 millimetres of rain at Nishtar Town.
Gujranwala witnessed 196mm of rain at Model Town over the past day, Wasa records showed.
In Balochistan, 22mm of showers were recorded in Ziarat while 13mm in Kalat during the same period. Rawalakot in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) received 47mm of rain while the highest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 18mm, was measured in Dera Ismail Khan.
Sindh recorded no rainfall in the past 24 hours, the PMD update stated.
However, Sindh residents, including those in Karachi, braced for more monsoon showers, which were expected to continue till tomorrow.
According to an alert issued by PMD today, monsoon currents were penetrating into eastern Sindh.
Under their influence, “isolated thunderstorm/rain may occur in Karachi Division tomorrow”, the Met Office said.
Thunderstorms/rain with few moderate to isolated heavy falls were likely in Tharparkar, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Sanghar, Badin, Thatta, Jamshoro, Dadu, Matiari, Hyderabad, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allahyar, Shaheed
Benazirabad and Khairpur districts today and tomorrow with occasional gaps, the PMD said.
It added that thunderstorms/rains were likely in Ghotki, Sukkur, Kashmore, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Larkana, Kambar Shahdadkot and Naushahro Feroze districts today and tomorrow with occasional gaps.
For Karachi Division, the PMD said weather was likely to remain “partly cloudy and humid” during the next three days, with “chances of isolated
rain/thunderstorm” on Wednesday.
Maximum temperatures were expected to stay between 32-34 degrees Celsius from today till Thursday (September 5) while at night, the mercury was forecast to fall as low as 25°C.
Heavy showers last week have left Karachi’s roads damaged, leading to concerns and criticism from opposition lawmakers in Sindh Assembly.
