Flood claims 12 more lives

KARACHI: At least 12 people were killed as heavy monsoon rains swept through parts of Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday, making life miserable for citizens while a red alert was issued in Layyah and Taunsa.
Army personnel were called out in Larkana and Kashmore in the wake of the expected heavy flood in the River Indus.In Lashari village of Khairpur, the roof of a house caved in under the pressure of the heavy downpour, killing three people, including two children. In the Sekha-Kot area of Malakand Agency, a person was killed and a child sustained injuries when the roof of their house collapsed on them due to torrential rain.
Rains also caused 247 feeders of SEPCO — the main electricity distributor in Sukkur to trip, effectively disrupting electricity supply to 10 districts of interior Sindh.Flood-affected people in Sukkur say they are still awaiting relief from the government.
In Hyderabad, overnight rain inundated several areas, with some areas drowning under several feet of rainwater.The River Indus is likely to attain high flood ranging between 550,000 to 600,000 cusecs at Kalabagh during the next 30 hours.
According to the Flood Forecasting Division Lahore, this flood water level has been forecast from 1400 hours Monday to 1400 hours Tuesday, the Radio Pakistan reported. The river Indus at Chashma is also likely to attain a similar high-level flood from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Departments concerned and the people living in the low lying areas along River Indus have been advised to take all possible precautionary measures to meet any eventuality.The River Indus is in a high flood at Guddu, in medium flood at Tarbela, Kalabagh, Chashma and Taunsa while in low flood at Sukkur.
The Flood Forecasting Division, Lahore, told the Radio Pakistan that 513,600 cusecs of floodwater was flowing at Guddu in River Indus on Monday morning.The River Kabul is in medium flood at Nowshera, while River Jhelum is in medium flood at Mangla. All other rivers and nullahs are flowing normally.
Meanwhile, floodwaters continued to cause destruction in several parts of Rajanpur, where more than 60 villages have been inundated and land routes to several areas cut off.Local administration officials say they are carrying out aid and relief efforts.
Meanwhile, the death toll from the flash floods has risen to 36 in the Chitral Valley, where floodwaters have swept away several houses, bridges and powerhouses.According to the ISPR, 98 people have been rescued including 48 stranded tourists who were airlifted to Peshawar by a C-130 aircraft of Pakistan Air Force.
In Gilgit-Baltistan, 2,800 tents have been placed with the district administration and out of this, 243 tents have so far been distributed among the victims.At least 14 persons died and a dozen others were injured in various incidents due to the recent flash floods in various parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said on Monday.
The sources told APP that as many as 25 houses were damaged completely and 78 partially following the heavy rainfall and floods in the seasonal nullahs.
Most of the casualties in the recent calamity were reported from the Bhimbher district, whereas six persons of a family aboard a car, were drowned during an abortive attempt to cross a flooded seasonal Nullah near Kasgumma.
At least 43 houses, 6 mosques and one hotel have been completely destroyed in Skardu, Baltistan and Ghanche due to monsoon rain and flood in rivers.And in southern Punjab, the Pak Army has rescued about 9,000 people from the flood-hit areas and shifted them to safer places.
Multan Corps soldiers continued their relief operations in the flood-hit areas of south Punjab, rescuing and shifting 1,025 persons to safer places besides extending free medical services, medicines and ration to affected people.
According to a release issued by ISPR, Multan, on Monday, the army also set up free medical camps in different flood-affected parts of the southern Punjab where they checked 528 patients and provided medicines to them while 10 ration bags were also distributed among the flood-hit families.
The troops also provided medical facilities and distributed ration and tents among the flood victims at several places in district Layyah.
Free medical camps were also set up in Muzaffargarh, Kot Addu, Alipur and Kot Mithan.The army is also assisting civil administration for evacuation of people from the flood-affected areas of Sadiqabad, Rahim Yar Khan, Khanpur and Liaqatpur.
Authorities on Monday issued flood warnings to different areas due to the high-level flood in River Sindh. The authorities concerned have been instructed to have people evacuated from localities on and near riverbanks.
At least 34 people were killed and one missing in rain and flood related incidents in different parts of Khyber Pakthunkhwa.According to a spokesman of the PDMA, 32 people were killed in Chitral and two in Kohat by the flash floods and rain related mishaps, raising the death toll to 34 in the province.
Seven persons were also injured in Kohat while one person was still missing due to the floods in Bhudnai Nullah Peshawar on July 26.Torrential rains resulting in flash flood on Monday destroyed dozens of houses, roads, crops and households in all over Hazara Division area.
The continuous monsoon rain, landsliding and floods in most parts of hilly areas in district Abbottabad and Manshera cut off the land communication among different localities.Road links in Galyat, Nathaigali, Oghi, Baffa, Ghai, Havelian, Kaghan and Sirran valley have been badly damaged and in some parts communication links were totally disrupted.
The Havelian to Rajoia Road was washed away at several places whenover flooded river Dor destroyed the safety wall of Rajoia Road.In district Haripur, the administration has opened the gates of small dams including Kharbara, Kabul, Mand and Chatri when they were filled to their capacity.
Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif on Monday reviewed the flood situation, protective arrangements and relief activities in south Punjab and issued necessary instructions to Provincial Cabinet Committee on Flood and administrations concerned in this regard.
He said that administrations of concerned districts should complete all protective arrangements in time to cope with the flood.He said that timely evacuation of people of the areas where there was a threat of flood should be ensured and all-out measures should be taken for the protection of life and property of citizens.