TARIQ SAEED BIRMANI
DERA GHAZI KHAN: A medium-level flood in the Indus in Rajanpur district has inundated hundreds of acres of standing crops and displaced hundreds of people residing in district councils on or near the river bank.
Rajanpur has a long Sulaiman mountain range in its west with the Indus flowing in the east. The district often faces hill torrents in Kaha Sultan and Chhachhar in the west, with floods in the Indus inundating its riverine areas from the east.
A few days ago, hill torrents in Kaha Sultan and Chhachhar were recorded at 45,000 cusecs as a result of heavy rains in Balochistan and on the Sulaiman mountain range, while there was a medium-level flood in the Indus in Rajanpur district.
According to the district government, there were seven government-owned flood protection embankments in the district and all were safe.
Standing crops destroyed; several people displaced
District Information Officer told Dawn 81 mauzas of the district had been affected by flood in the Indus. He also said 17,475 flood affectees had been rescued. The hill torrents and flood in the Indus had inundated 40,433 acres and damaged 33,798 acres of standing crop.
The district government claimed to have established 32 relief camps, but only 10 were functioning housing only 296 flood victims.
Ghaffar and Mushtaq, residents of the riverine area of Rujhan in Rajanpur district, told this correspondent they had saved their goods and cattle on a private boat as the government did not provide transportation for flood victims of the district.
Another evacuee, Khuda Bukhsh, said transportation of goods, cattle grain and households was very expensive as owner of the private boat charged Rs20,000 per ride.
Commenting on the role of the administration, Rasheed of Kot Mithan said rescuers only rescued people, not their belongings.
BREACH: The irrigation department was facing difficulties in plugging a 100 foot breach in the flood protection embankment near Jakhar Imam in Jhoke Utra even after three days.
Due to the unplugged breach, flood water had inundated large swathes of standing crop.
Dera Ghazi Khan District Coordination Officer Nadeem Rehman claimed the breach would be plugged soon as hectic efforts were under way.
Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2015