F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: The torrential monsoon rains across the country on Monday continued claiming further lives and inflicting losses to property as the total death count in various incidents reached 1,136 with 75 more deaths in past 24 hours and 1,634 individuals got injured since the onset of the rainy season.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) issued a 24-hour situation report released on routine basis that accounted overall life, property, and infrastructure losses incurred by the heavy rains lashing out various parts of the country. The heavy rains and flashfloods caused deaths of two men in Mastung and as many injured in Noshki.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa some 16 perished due to roof collapse and flash flood in various districts including two men in Lower Dir, one in Swat, four men and two children in DI Khan, four men in Batagram, one man in Kohistan, one man in Bajaur, and one child in Lakki Marwat.
However, 31 people were reported as injured including three men in DI Khan, one man in lower Kohistan, one in Lakki Marwat, one in Torghar, one in Upper Kohistan, five men and seven children in South Waziristan, two women in Bajaur, one woman and three children in Khyber, and four in Shangla. The data reconciled by the NDMA mentioned that one man injured figure was reduced by the SDMA, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) including the number of one man reported dead on August 27.
In Sindh, 53 people perished including 14 men, 15 women and 21 child in Larkana, one man and a child in Hyderabad and a child in Shaheed Benazirabad. In Gilgit Baltistan (GB), two men, two women and child were reported dead whereas a man was injured whereas more details were to follow. In Gilgit Baltistan (GB), N140 Ghizer Road, N-35 of 288 kilometers (km) at 3 locations 288 (Mata Banda Zaid Khad Nala), 303 km (Achar Nullah) and at 323 km (Lutar) were blocked.
In Balochistan, two routes were blocked as the high flow of water blocked including the M-8: (100–140 km) as land sliding occurred in 24 Km Long section of Wangu hills and the road was closed for all types of traffic whereas N-25: Hub Bridge 22–23 km was open for light Traffic plying through alternate route, diversion for bridge was under preparation and N-65 Pinjra Bridge (Bolan River) 45 meter span washed out by flash floods.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, two connectivity routes were blocked including N-95: (Madyan) blocked at KM 91–92, and the restoration work was underway. And also the N-50 was blocked at 486 km which was blocked for all types of traffic at Saggu Bridge.
In Punjab, the N-55 Fazilpur-Rajanpur highway was blocked due to floodwater intrusion at two locations. A temporary steel bridge was installed and the traffic was plying on alternate routes of N-5 and M-5 through Shaheed Benazir Bridge.
Moreover, 15 joint survey teams of NDMA had reached respective locations at; Quetta along with a provincial coordination team, for joint survey and damage assessment in flood affected areas, Pishin, Loralai, Dukki, Jaffarabad, Sohbatpur, Nasirabad, Kohlu, Barkhan and Lasbella, Awaran, Musakhel, Gawadar and Khuzdar.
The Armed Forces Army aviation undertook 27 sorties, rescued 316 stranded persons and distribution of 27.7 tons of relief goods during aerial rescue operations being completed. The operations were conducted in Noushki Balochistan, Tank, DIKhan, Kalam and Kumrat in KP and Kohistan and South Punjab.
The report highlighted that mainly dry weather was expected over most parts of the country. However, isolated thunderstorm and rain was expected over Upper catchment areas of all major rivers alongwith Northeast Balochistan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Dera Ismail Khan, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Lahore Divisions.
Meanwhile, Additional Federal Secretary for Energy Power Division and Managing Director Power Planning and Monitoring Shakeel Qadir Monday said that as per Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s directives, uninterrupted power supply may be ensured to all flood-hit areas of Balochistan in the shortest possible time.
He expressed these views while presiding over a high-level meeting at the Quetta Electric Supply Company headquarters regarding the electricity situation in Balochistan province. The meeting was attended by QESCO Chief Executive Officer Abdul Karim Jamali, National Transmission and Dispatch Company Deputy Managing Director Manzoor Ahmed, Chief Engineers QESCO and other concerned officers.
Addressing the meeting, Additional Federal Secretary for Energy Power Division and Managing Director Power Planning and Monitoring Shakeel Qadir said that in this hour of difficulty, giving relief to the consumers of all the affected districts was their first priority and in this regard, QESCO must restore electricity to all affected areas as soon as possible by using all available resources.
He said that the completion of the repair and rehabilitation of the fallen towers of the 132KV Sibi – Quetta and 220KV Dadu-Khuzdar transmission lines will provide relief to all the affected districts of the province. Shakeel Qadir directed the officials of QESCO and NTDC to complete the repair and restoration work as soon as possible.
Federal Additional Secretary, however lauded the efforts of QESCO as saying the restoration of electricity to the provincial capital Quetta in the shortest time is an exemplary achievement assuring ministry of Energy’s full support and cooperation. Earlier, Chief Executive Officer QESCO Engineer Abdul Karim Jamali, while giving a briefing on the situation after the rains and floods, said that due to the recent monsoon rains and floods, 10 towers of 220kv of NTDC fell near Bibi Nani bridge in Bolan area, while 3 towers of 132kv fell in Peer Ghaib area due to which the power supply to different districts of the province was suspended. “Power supply to many calamity-stricken areas have been restored,” he said, adding that efforts are afoot to restore the electricity in other areas badly affected by the rains and flood.
