Nearly 40 people have died in flood-related incidents countrywide over the last 24 hours, official data shows, as officials and elected representatives continue to report a drop in water levels in Sindh where floodwaters have converged and given rise to the outbreaks of multiple diseases after wreaking havoc elsewhere.
In its daily situation report on Saturday, the National Disaster Management Authority said the death toll from floods has risen by 37 during the last 24 hours.
The cumulative death toll since June 14 now stood at 1,545, the report added.
It showed that 92 individuals had sustained injuries due to floods in the last 24 hours, raising the total number of injured reported since mid-June to 12,850.
Record monsoon rains in south and southwest Pakistan and glacial melt in northern areas have triggered the flooding that has affected nearly 33 million people, sweeping away homes, crops, bridges, roads and livestock and causing an estimated $30 billion of damage.
Water continues to ‘recede’ in Sindh
The floods have displaced hundreds of thousands of people in Sindh, where water levels have started dropping in recent days albeit gradually. Officials estimate that it may take two to six months before floodwaters recede completely.
On Saturday, Mehar Assistant Commissioner (AC) Mohsin Sheikh told Dawn.com that the water level had dropped approximately three feet at the ring bund and expressed the hope that the floodwater would recede completely from there within three days.
He further said he was expecting the water to recede from the highway leading to the city in seven days. “Once it recedes, one track of the highway will be opened for traffic,” the AC added.
Meanwhile, water was standing up to eight feet in Mehar’s villages, he said.
In Khairpur Nathan Shah city, Assistant Commissioner Sonu Khan Chandio said, the water level had dropped approximately three feet. In the region’s remote areas, he added, the stagnant water was as high as “eight to nine feet”.
Johi Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Ali Baloch estimated that water had dropped by around three feet in the region’s outskirts.
Similarly, Dadu Assistant Commissioner Shahnawaz Merani told Dawn.com that the water was now flowing back into Manchhar Lake from the city’s remote areas.
He said tent cities were being established in the Dadu city to house flood-affected individuals and families.
In Bhan Syedabad, MNA Sikandar Ali Rahoupoto told Dawn.com, the water was continuously receding in the city and its outskirts and there was no pressure on the city’s ring bund.
“The water is standing up to eight to nine feet in Bhan Syedabad, which is continuously dropping. Life has returned to Bhan Syedabad,” he said.
Meanwhile, an engineer of the provincial irrigation department, Mahesh Kumar, said the water level in Manchhar Lake was measured at 121.2-foot reduced level around noon on Saturday. “The water from the lake is now flowing in the River Indus,” he said.
On Saturday afternoon, Indus was witnessing a medium-level flood at Kotri, according to the Flood Forecasting Division’s website.
Separate wards for dengue patients
Meanwhile, in a visit to Matiari today, Sindh Chief Ministre Murad Ali Shah expressed concerns over the rising cases of dengue and other diseases in flood-hit areas of Sindh.
“Not just dengue, we are also seeing an increasing number of diarrhoea and malaria cases,” he noted, announcing that the government had decided to form separate wards for dengue patients.
“Medical camps have been established and we are ensuring the provision of the required medicines there,” Shah went on to say.
Talking about relief efforts in Matiari, the chief minister highlighted that floodwaters were entering the Saeedabad tehsil. “We have started pumping out the water. The deputy commissioner and irrigation department have been instructed to drain out the water via pumps.”
Separately, he said, the government was also planning on de-watering agricultural lands to ensure the sowing of crops to recover the losses suffered by farmers.
“Draining out water from under the ground and irrigation channels is also a part of our plans,” the CM promised, adding that farmers would also be provided seeds, fertilisers and diesel for tractors.
Apart from Matiari, the chief minister will also visit Shaheed Benazirabad and Naushero Feroz today and review the relief and rehabilitation efforts in all the affected areas.
Additional input by Mohammad Hussain Khan