950818

Heavy downpour

lashes Faisalabad:

three killed

KHALID ABBAS SAIF

FAISALABAD: About 65 minutes of heavy downpour on Friday afternoon flooded large areas of this industrial city, whose sewerage and drainage system appears to have virtually collapsed. Three persons including a women were killed in different incidents of electrocution at Awagat Banglow and in collapse of old buildings at Aminpur road.

City life was almost disrupted and traffic jams built up on many submerged roads. Cars spluttered to a halt in the water-traps. Many establishments including Rail Bazar and Chiniot Bazar were practically cut off as the roads around them, already broken by the passage of heavy vehicles and lack of maintenance by the civic authorities, filled with water and kept everyone away except those who perforce had to wade or drive to work. The downpour started at around 2.45 pm and stopped at around 3.50 pm.

According to BR correspondent Hafeez Shaikh in Hyderabad: The water level of river Indus at Kotri Barrage has become statio. With a nominal increase of a little over 90 cusec during the last 24 hours. According to the irrigation department officials since 6 a.m on Friday, no further increase was recorded in the flow of river Indus. The maximum discharge recorded at the Kotri Barrage at 6 a.m was 799447 cusec up-stream and 771365 cusec down-stream. The water guage was recorded at 24.4 at Kotri Barrage and 131 at Dadu-Moro Bridge. Last year the peak discharge of 820000 cusec had safely passed through Kotri Barrage.

According to the irrigation officials all the protective bunds have withstood the pressure. However, a 21-year-old villager Mohammad Hanid Kahskheli who helped plug the erosion in S.M. Bund was washed away by the strong currents or river Indus. In another incident, a final year engineering student, Ishtiaq, nephew of chief engineer, Sukkur Barrage, Masood Arbab was also swept away while bathing near the Hala spurs.

Meanwhile, the Sindh Food Minister, Syed Mohsin Shah Bukhari, who is the incharge of Hyderabad protective bunds, inspected the bunds and distributed food items among the flood victims.

BUNDS SAFE

APP adds: Sindh Minister for Food, Syed Mohsin Shah Bukhari has said that all the protective bunds of Latifabad and Qasimabad (Hyderabad) are safe as the Super Flood is passing through the area. He said this during a visit to protective bunds of Qasimabad, Latifabad number four, Mula Katiar and Tando Mohammad Khan on Friday. He also supervised the surveillance of the bunds on Thursday night.

Syed Mohsin Shah contradicted the news about five-feet breach in Latifabad number four Bund and said he has himself visited the site and found nothing wrong. The officials of Irrigation Department and Flood Monitoring Cell informed the minister that a super flood of about 790,000 cusecs is passing through these areas. The flood water is increasing its pressures on the bund, however, there is no danger.

FLOOD LOSSES

Deputy Commissioner Larkana, Shams Jafrani on Thursday directed the revenue officers to immediately assess the losses caused to standing crops and houses because of torrential rains, breaches in Flood Protective Bund (F.P. Bund) and other canals in the district. Assessment of the losses will be supervised by a committee headed by Assistant Commissioners and notables of the area.

LIGHT RAINS FORECAST

The southeast component of monsoon current has resumed due to which scattered light rains are expected all over the country, National Flood Forecasting Bureau reported here on Friday. Seasonal low over Balochistan continues to be well marked and Thursday's weak seasonal low over head of Bay of Bengal has moved northwestwards and today lies over Orissa and adjoining east Madhya Pradesh (India). According to the Met Office, a westerly low pressure wave is affecting Malakand division and adjoining areas. Recurrence of southeast monsoon current is expected to bring scattered down pour and raise water flow in the rivers and nullas.