Monsoon rains in Pakistan

Monsoon rains in Pakistan killed about 150.The death toll from rain-related incidents rises as rains brought flash floods in some parts of the country. The National Disaster Management Authority said 88 women and children were among the dead. The monsoon rains also damaged homes, roads, bridges and power stations across the country.

The situation was particularly worst in the major southern port city of Karachi, the country’s largest, where entire neighborhoods remained submerged on Monday, leaving commuters stranded in places or attempting to wave through knee-deep water on foot or on bicycles. Some residents arranged for boats to move them to safer places. Some Karachi residents said they were forced to leave their cars on submerged roads and walk through waist-high water. Authorities summoned paramilitary troops to help with efforts to drain the waters from flooded streets and evacuate people.

In Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, the disaster control agency said at least 26 people died. Heavy rain also struck national capital Islamabad and the eastern Punjab province. Hundreds more were left homeless after their homes collapsed in the rain and flooding, Eight dams had burst due to the heavy rains. Experts say climate change is the cause for the heavier than average downpour in Pakistan. Every year, many cities in Pakistan struggle with the annual monsoon rain, drawing criticism about poor government planning. The season runs from July through September and experts say rains are essential for irrigating crops and replenishing dams and other water reservoirs in Pakistan. In 2010, the worst floods affected 20 million people in Pakistan, with damage to infrastructure running into billions of dollars and huge number of crops destroyed as 25 percent of the country was inundated.

Torrential rains claim 27 lives over Eid; more thundershowers forecast. 10 killed in rain-related accidents in Karachi, six each in KP and Balochistan, five in GB. PM orders NDMA, provincial authorities to prepare for next spell; Met Office warns of more rain on the way from July 14 to 17. 200 houses washed away by overflowing River Winder. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked authorities to closely monitor measures taken in Sindh, Balochistan and south Punjab to cope with the impending threat of another spell of torrential rains. In Karachi, as the police and rescue officials reported at least 10 deaths owing to heavy rains from Sunday night to Monday morning, people of the disaster-hit business capital woke up on Tuesday to suspended power supply in several areas and many localities still submerged.

Data compiled by the Provincial Balochistan Disaster Management Authority and Sindh police suggested 49 people had died in the province, including 31 in Karachi alone, in the weeklong monsoon spell from July 4. Out of these, the police data collected from July 4 to 12 showed that 26 people were electrocuted, including 18 in Karachi, and the PDMA mentioned an additional nine coal miners who drowned when rainwater entered a coal mine in Jhimpir area of Thatta. The police also said five people had drowned, while four died in roof/wall collapse accidents in Karachi. Although several major roads were mostly cleared by Tuesday morning after a joint nightlong operation by the civil and military organizations, many localities remained submerged and a number of localities, mainly in the south district, complained of suspended power supply even after 36 hours. The power breakdown also caused cellular service suspension in the south district. The city’s sole power utility, K-Electric, cited flooding as main reason behind a delay in power supply restoration. The city has witnessed an unprecedented record rainfall of 136 millimeters or five inches within 12 hours (8pm Sunday to 8am Monday) and then after a brief break it started again till 11am Later, the armed forces moved in to assist the civil administration on Monday. Pakistan Navy Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations continued throughout the three days of Eidul Azha in different towns of Karachi. The navy assisted the Sindh PDMA by rescuing locals stranded in flooded homes, shifting them to safer locations and draining flood water with their own sources. The army, too, was active in relief work. As many as 388 dewatering teams of the army, Pakistan Rangers, Frontier Works Organisation and National Logistics Cell cleared the water accumulated on roads and inside buildings.

Over in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, at least six people were killed in Swabi, Mardan, South Waziristan and Bajaur districts and 12 others wounded as many houses collapsed after heavy rains lashed several districts, said the PDMA on Tuesday. The torrential rains also brought flash floods in different areas, damaging standing crops and infrastructure. Swabi, Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Nowshera and Malakand were the worst affected. Six people died and dozens of houses collapsed throughout Sunday and Monday across Balochistan, while many areas were cut off from the district headquarters due to submerging of roads in Lasbela, Kharan, Dera Bugti and other districts. While monsoon rains were continuing for the last 10 days, Lasbela district suffered immense damage over the last three days as over a dozen villages in the Winder area of the district were submerged with the seasonal Winder river overflowing and entering houses, rendering hundreds of people stranded. Over 200 houses have completely washed away in the flash flood after the Winder river overflew,”Gilgit-Baltistan

Five teenagers died during Eid holidays in Nagar and Shigar areas on Monday, while many areas across GB were cut off from each other after several link roads, bridges, electricity supply, properties across the region were damaged from the recent flooding caused by melting glaciers. The GB government claimed to have kicked off relief and rehabilitation activities. The floods triggered by melting glaciers blocked roads in remote areas of Ghizer, Shigar, Skardu, Ghanche, Hunza and Nagar, Diamer districts, cutting them off from each other with their residents facing problems accessing hospitals and food supplies. Rising water levels in rivers and nullahs eroded thousands of kanals of cultivated land across GB. Meanwhile, scattered rain in the hilly areas on Monday reduced temperatures that lessened the menace of heavy melting of glaciers, rising nullahs and rivers. There is a serious risk of flooding in local streams of the twin cities and Dera Ghazi Khan on July 13 and 14, while landslides are feared in Murfree.
At least 26 people have been killed in rain-related incidents across the province, with most fatalities reported from Karachi. Over the weekend into Monday resulted in flooded thoroughfares, with the city’s Keamari and East districts receiving the most rainfall, and areas from Clifton and Defence in the south of Karachi. The infrastructure has made rain a worst its residents. Karachi has suffered from several years of official neglect at the federal, provincial and local levels, there needs to be a concerted effort from official quarters to resolve the urban flooding issue permanently. Urban planners and topography experts local and foreign should be consulted by the state to chart out a plan to minimize the risks of flooding, and their recommendations need to be implemented immediately. The administration needs to have contingency plans ready to better tackle the coming wet weather, while without an improved drainage and urban disaster response mechanism in the long term; the people of Karachi will be left to face the gushing floodwaters on their own.