Web Desk (LTN NEWS): At least eight people were killed by heavy rains and flash floods in different parts of Balochistan. Traffic between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan was stopped for the second time this month after flash floods washed away a bridge. On Friday, the Met department predicted thunderstorms with a few “heavy” to “very heavy” falls and occasional strong winds in several parts of Sindh in the next two days.
A Met department advisory said, “The well-marked low-pressure area over the northeast Arabian Sea has become an intense low-pressure area (depression) with a maximum wind speed of 50-55 kilometers per hour.” However, none of the coastal areas were in danger at the moment.
“The system is around latitude 22.6N and longitude 66.4E, which is about 260 km south and southeast of Karachi and 280 km from Thatta. It said, “This weather system is likely to move first to the northwest and then to the west.”
Chief Meteorologist Dr. Sardar Sarfaraz told that the system was not likely to become a cyclone because the monsoon conditions were not right for it. He also said that the depression was likely to move into its next stage, which is called deep depression before it died out.
Several parts of Sindh, including Karachi, are likely to have thunderstorms; Balochistan has been hit by flash floods, and two dams have broken.
The department predicts thunderstorms with some heavy to very heavy rain and strong winds in Tharparkar, Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Badin, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allahyar, Hyderabad, Matiari, Thatta, Sujawal, Sanghar, Shaheed Benazirabad, Naushahro Feroze, Khairpur, Sukkur, Larkana, Ghotki, Kashmore, Shikarpur, Jacoba
Dr. Sarfaraz said that the low-pressure area over India’s Rajasthan state has weakened, which will help the current pattern of heavy to very heavy rains in Sindh continue.
“Over the next three days, the sea would stay very rough. The advisory said that fishermen in Sindh should stay out of the open sea until August 14 and that fishermen in Balochistan should also be extra careful during this time.
Balochistan’s north-eastern and southern districts are also likely to get more rain, which could cause flash floods in Dadu, Jamshoro, and Kambar Shahdadkot districts and further downstream.
Also, if it rains a lot in Khuzdar, Lasbela, Hub, and the Kirthar mountain range, that could put more pressure on the Hub and Thaddo dams and the areas downstream.
During the forecast period, heavy rains could cause water to pool and flood low-lying cities.
Kohistan Bridge swept away
Traffic between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan was stopped for the second time this month on Friday. A flash flood in the Ichar nullah area of Upper Kohistan washed away a temporary steel bridge on the Karakoram Highway (KKH).
Mohammad Asif, the deputy commissioner of Upper Kohistan, told reporters, “We put up a Bailey bridge at Ichar nullah about three days ago, but it was washed away by the flash floods, which brought heavy boulders, rocks, and eroded land and stopped traffic between KP and GB.”
He said that traffic going to GB and KP had to use the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road instead.
The floods also washed away tools and equipment, like shovels, from the work sites for the Dasu hydropower projects.
120 houses destroyed
At least eight people, including a child, died in Balochistan because of the recent heavy rains and flash floods in different areas. There were also reports that the Machka and another dam in Qila Abdullah broke, and hundreds of houses were washed away in the Qila Saifullah district.
Three people died in the Killi Khali neighborhood on the outskirts of Quetta, where heavy rains caused the walls of two houses to fall down. In the Chaman district, there was another death.
The deputy commissioner of Qila Abdullah district, Munir Ahmad Kakar, said that four of the people who died were swept away by flash floods late Friday night. They were one of 15 people on a tractor trolley that was swept away by water. The rest of the people were still unaccounted for.
Officials said that traffic between Quetta and Karachi had to be stopped again because the highway connecting the two cities was damaged in different parts of the Lasbela district.
On Thursday night, hill torrents swept away about 120 houses in the Qila Saifullah district, Zakaullah Durrani, the assistant commissioner of Muslim Bagh. He also said that 200 houses were damaged in other places.
Rains also continue to batter Pishin, Chaman, Qila Abdullah, Ziarat, Harnai, Duki, Sanjavi, Loralai, Fort Minor, Barkhan, Zhob, and Sherani areas.
