Balochistan is suffering from havoc floods occuring in most of its areas including heavy rains hitting parts of Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Sibi, Ziarat, Harnai, Barkhan, Loralai, Lasbela, Kohlu, Dera Bugti, Awaran, Noshki, Chaghi, Turbat and Panjgur districts. According to Chief Secretary of Balochistan, 127 people have lost their precious lives until now. However, numerous people have been injured and endured a lot and most significantly Balochistan’s 197,930 acres land were devastated by flood which also demolished lands, seasonal crops, homes and roads. In many areas, rain waters smashed many homes and made them uninhabitable. Similarly, more than ten thousand families were displaced, confirmed Balochistan’s Chief Secretary.
According to the Relief Commissioner Provincial Disaster Management, Balochistan’s capital Quetta has been declared a disaster area due to rains, too, and an emergency had been declared in the capital. At least 25 people were killed in Quetta as monsoon rains caused flash floods.
Besides Quetta, at least 25 people were killed, including six women from the same family, after seasonal monsoon rains caused flash floods that havoc in Jaffarabad and Nasirabad areas of the province.
Director General of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Naseer Ahmad Nasar said that all the deaths were due to rain-related incidents in various parts of Balochistan. He added that they also had many incidents of people being injured in the heavy rains.
There are fears that the death rate could go up as several people are still reportedly missing due to flash flooding in remote areas of the Balochistan, according to PDMA. Several districts of Balochistan province have received heavy downpour accompanied by strong winds over the last couple of days. The bodies of two girls were also recovered from Lasbela as they drowned in a deep pond in Bhosa Mandi area on Tuesday night, officials said.
Two women were killed in Dasht area in Mastung district when a wall of their house collapsed. Likewise, in Kech district, three children drowned in a seasonal stream in the Mand area close to the Pakistan-Iran border.
Five coal miners were also swept away. However, the locals saved two of them, while three others drowned in the running water. Floods triggered by seasonal monsoon rains wreak havoc in Balochistan.
It seems that Balochistan is thirsty in the corner of sea and government is oblivious and ignorant about its province. The people demand that at least the government should provide disaster relief funds and supply goods to the ones who are affected by heavy rains. They also ask for rehabilitation center to those who are injured by floods. However, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has not taken major steps to assist Balochistan to be saved from havoc disaster so far. It has not sent any notifications to assist them either, neither has it sent helicopters nor given them economic support.
Other than the premier of the country, Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to some areas of Balochistan and announced to render one million to those whose family member caused death due to the floods including financial assistance to the ones whose homes were swept away.