Balochistan: 500,000 People Made Homeless As Floods Enter Tambo Tehsil

QUETTA: More than 30,000 people have been made homeless as flash floods entered Tambo tehsil of Nasirabad district in Balochistan, destroying crops in the canal-irrigated area.

Around 0.2 million people had been affected by floods in six districts of Balochistan where rescue and relief work had been slow and inadequate. Roads, power transmission lines and railway tracks have been destroyed in the district. On Sunday, for the fourth consecutive day, the area remained cut off from the rest of the country. But some trucks loaded with relief goods reached the affected areas by using alternative routes. Balochistan Communication and Works Minister Mir Sadiq Umrani confirmed the massive devastation in Tambo tehsil, where people had been forced to live under the open sky, as their houses had been destroyed by the flash floods. There have been reports of snakebites in the area but the Balochistan Health Directorate has failed to dispatch anti-snake bite medicines to the area, which has led to some deaths.

Despite the massive destruction, relief work had not started in Tambo tehsil but Umrani visited the affected area and distributed relief goods amongst the victims. According to official sources, around 35 people, including women and children, had been rescued by helicopter from the Thari Ahd area of Sibi. They had remained confined in the affected area for three days but had been brought to the relief camps on Sunday. According to railways sources, repair work had been started in the Bakhtiarabad area of Sibi and train services would be restored in the next 24 hours. According to Quetta Electricity Supply Company (QESCO) officials, the power supply would be restored as soon as the water levels in the area fall.

Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Director General Hassan Baloch told the media that a massive loss of life and property had been reported in Talli, Sultan Kot, Bakhtiarabad and Kohlu. He claimed that all road routes had been restored in the area and rescue work was being carried out in the devastated areas. "All roads have been destroyed in the area and many casualties have also been reported. People are complaining about the inadequate relief efforts but PDMA and the local administration are making efforts to solve the problems of the masses," Baloch said.

Separately, the Meteorological Department predicted heavy rains in various parts of Sindh and Balochistan in the next few days. Also on Sunday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) announced that Pakistan Army teams had distributed relief goods amongst the affectees of the flash floods in various parts of Balochistan. mohammad zafar/app

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