Rain emergency in Hyderabad
Karachi-Hyderabad rail traffic suspended; Six die; 1500 take shelter

Lahore: All kind of train service between Hyderabad and Karachi has been suspended due to damage to rail track at the site of washed away bridge at Ranpathani .

According to Railways sources here on Friday, temporary track laid by Railway administration for restoration of rail traffic at the site of washed away bridge at Ranpathani was damaged at 11.00 am on Friday due to gushing water through the temporary spans as a result of torrential rains in the catchment area.

The sources said that Railway administration has commenced the restoration work at the site and the schedule for restoration of traffic will ,however, be announced after assessment of damage.

The sources said that passenger train service would continue to operate up to Hyderabad and arrangements have been made for transportation by road between Hyderabad and Karachi for stranded passengers as well as passengers who intend to travel in the next few days.

Those passengers who intend to postpone their journey due to this temporary disruption of traffic will be offered full refund of tickets without any penalty at the booking stations.

Emergency centres have also been set up by the Railway administration at lahore, Karachi and Hyderabad to facilitate the passengers which will work round the clock and provide necessary help and assistance to the passengers.

These centres can be accessed on the following telephone numbers Karachi Cantt 021-9206129, Lahore 042-9201110 and Hyderabad 022-9200673-4.

Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmad along with a team of engineers arrived at Ranpathani with a team of engineers to review the situation.

The Minister mentioned that the railway bridge was constructed on a temporary basis by the Pakistan Railways with the help of Pakistan Army at the Ranpathani.

Heavy rains in parts of interior Sindh disrupted power and communication systems while five persons were killed and eight injured in lightening bolts in various areas.

The rainwater entered in houses in several localities as emergency declared in Hyderabad and troops called in Latifabad to evacuate people to safer places.

The rainfall started Thursday evening continued intermittently till late night as water submerged low-lying areas of Hyderabad, Latifabad, Tando Jam, Tando Allahyar and Thatta. Several vehicles left stranded in rainwater.

The rainwater was entered in several localities of Hyderabad i.e. Latifabad-11, 12, Ayub Colony, City, Liaquat Colony, Railway Colony, Phuleli and Qasimabad.

Five people were injured when a house rooftop collapsed in Sarre Ghat locality of Hyderabad.

The rain caused faults in transformers resulting in large-scale outages in several areas, Hesco sources said. The railway subway bridge was closed for traffic after inundated by the rainwater. In Hyderabad nine of total 13 feeders of the grid station have been closed, the sources further said.

A woman Muneera and her 12-year child were killed in Chaudhry Farzand Ali village of tehsil Kot Ghulam Muhammad by lightening bolt. A laborer Achoo was killed and two others were injured in another lightening strike incident in Matli. In Tando Ghulam Ali town of Badin district two persons Achar Panhwar and Rano Kolhi were killed and Javed Panhwar injured in an incident of lightening bolt.

The District Administration Hyderabad, while declaring emergency in the entire district on Friday morning, called Pakistan Army for evacuation the people of low lying areas of Hyderabad City, Latifabad and Qasimabad talukas who have been stranded in accumulated water following 17 hour-long torrential rain along with thunderstorm, beginning on Thursday evening.

The heavy rainfall, which started at 06.00 p.m. and continued till 11 a.m. Friday, has flooded the low-lying areas of Hyderabad City, Latifabad and Qasimabad.

The local met office has recorded 200 millimetres rainfall.

The rain water inundated low-lying areas including Liaquat Colony, Sarfraz Colony, Gaushala, Goods Naka, Phuleli, Pareetabad, Ghammonabad, Pathan Colony, Gharibabad, Garikhata, Qazi Abdul Qayoom Road, Hali Road, Makki Shah, Latifabad Unit Nos. 1, 2, 11 and 12, Wehdat Colony, Sehrish Nagar, Sheedi Village, Qasimabad, Citizen Colony, Deeplai Memon Society and Gulistan-e-Sajjad.

The rain water also damaged katcha houses in katchiabadis while the huts, located in Odh Colony, Autobahn Road and other parts of the district also washed away by the rainwater.

The situation in Latifabad Unit Nos. 1, 2, 11, 12, Sehrish Nagar and Sheedi Village is worst where the water flooded in the houses.

The troops of Pakistan Army have been called to evacuate the stranded people through boats and shift them to safer places, the District Naib Nazim, Zafar Rajput informed APP.

The leave of all government employees of the district government particularly the staff of Water and Sanitation Agency has been cancelled and they have been asked to report to their respective office, he said.

Meanwhile, as a result of torrential rains, the routine life has disrupted as majority of the people preferred to remain inside their houses.

Students failed to reach their respective educational institutions while thin attendance also witnessed in public and private offices because of non-availability of public transport.

The main roads including Thandi Sarak, Cantonment Road, Qasimabad, Wehdat Colony, Qazi Qayoom Road, Makki Shah Road, Haider Chowk and different units of Latifabad are under knee-deep water where many of the cars, auto-rickshaw, Suzuki Pickups and motorbikes were witnessed stranded. The power supply system and communication system in urban talukas of the district was badly affected.

More than 1500 rain affected people of Latifabad, Qasimabad and Hyderabad City Talukas took shelter in relief camps, established by the district government in different government school buildings on Friday.

District Coordination Officer Hyderabad Muhammad Hussain Syed said the arrival of displaced people is still continuing in the relief camps where cooked food and other necessity items along with medical facility are being provided to them.

He said majority of people who have been shifted to relief camps belong to different parts of Taluka Latifabad.

Meanwhile, Some 240,000 to 250,000 cusec water wave passed through Multan part of river Chenab affecting riverine area communities on Friday and it is expected to subside after 12 pm on Saturday night, officials said.

The river Chenab that bisects the districts of Multan and Muzaffargarh affected people living in riverine areas forcing them to shift to safer places.

According to Muzaffargarh district government officials, some 55 small rural settlements in riverine (Bait) area were affected in the district. Some 25 medical camps have been set up at Muzaffargarh to offer medical aid to the affected people.

Multan flood control centre said, some 266000 cusec water wave had passed through Trimmu barrage on Thursday and its effect reached Multan on Friday from Sardarpur area.

“As per our estimates, a water wave of 240,000 to 250,000 was passing through Multan part of river Chenab and it would continue to maintain this level till 12 pm i.e the midnight of Saturday/Sunday.” “Then it will start subsiding”, Akram Javed added.

The discharge from Trimmu reduced to 154000 cusec on Friday morning and further down to 121097 in the evening, however, its effect would reach Multan later when water wave would start subsiding, officials said.—Agencies