After years of droughts, the arid Katcho area in Johi taluka of Dadu district is facing flash floods caused by flowing of rainy riverine “Nai Gaaj” streaming down after torrential Monsoon rains on Khirthir hilly range in the West bordering Balochistan province on August 7th and 8th.
Thousands of people and hundreds of villages were inundated due to the sudden flowing of the hilly torrent, causing floods. Heavy losses of properties and livestock have also been reported.
Video clips were circulated on social media, showing some people climbing on trees to save their lives. These video clips also included appeals from men and women to the authorities to save them from the gushing water of Nai Gaaj. The hill torrent passes through the Katcho area enters Manchhar lake, and ultimately to River Indus via inundation canals.
Breaches reportedly occurred in the protective embankment (dyke) FB Bund, which protects major cities. These breaches posed a threat of inundation of Johi town, the major settlement in the area, but due to the quick intervention of the authorities to plug the breaches this threat was averted.
However, hundreds of villages were submerged due to the breach and they are still inundated people have taken refuge on the Bund (dyke) and waiting for relief assistance from the government. A video showing the local police stealing the relief goods which was provided by the provincial government.
The Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah visited the area on Sunday and inspected the relief and rescue operations.
Nai Gaaj is a major hilly torrent in Dadu’s Katcho area, which is often welcomed by people of the area as it replenishes the groundwater, which also irrigates the agricultural lands for bumper crops.
The biggest lake in Pakistan Manchhar is one of the main beneficiaries of the hilly torrents as it is facing a lot of pollution coming from the Main Nara Valley (MNV) Drain and defunct Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD), which carry industrial waste and sewerage water from northern areas of Punjab and Balochistan provinces.
According to senior journalist Aajiz Jamali, Nai Gaaj had caused flash floods in 1976, 1995 and 2010, which caused heavy destruction and loss of livestock and human lives.
The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) had carried out two major projects in this area: Nai Gaaj Dam and RBOD, both are incomplete. Experts believe heavy corruption and inefficiency have caused the non-completion of these major projects. The RBOD is aimed at carrying the polluted water till the Arabian Sea and saving Manchhar lake, which is currently receiving that highly polluted water.
Local people consider the flood in Nai Gas as a blessing. According to them, due to faulty development policy of the government, the flood becomes a misery for the people.
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