Flood swept away Garhi Khero in Jacobabad

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JACOBABAD: As a result of four breaches in the Keerthar Canal, the Garhi Kheru tehsil located in Jacobabad has been inundated, leaving thousands stranded, said sources on Thursday. The katcha area has submerged in flood water coming from Ghauspur. Over 3,000 people are stranded after Garhi Khero district was washed away as a result of four breaches in Keerthar Canal. With the approach of a second ‘peak flood’, the district of Jacobabad is facing the worst crisis in its history. A number of villages and settlements have been inundated. At least 22 people, including women and children have been swept away by raging waters in Moula Dad, Mehmal, Karim Bux and other areas. According to local sources, more than 300,000 people have been affected in areas around Jacobabad. Villagers have lost their property, grain stock, cattle and standing crops. About 20,000 people arrived in Sukkur from Jacobabad on Saturday night. They have been accommodated in schools. Floodwaters from the Begari Sindh feeder have entered Qadri Darbar, Gillani Mohalla, Bhatti Colony, Umrani Laro, Sona Khan Rind, Hyder Ali, Sultan Kot, Garhi Khero and Baqa Pul. Thousands of people moved to Balochistan after water was released into the saline water drain. A large number of people going to Dera Murad Jamali and Dera Allahyar are stranded because large areas in these districts have also been flooded. Affected people in most of the camps have complained of lack of food, water and medicine. AGENCIES ADD: Local men are digging through an embankment on the outskirts of Jacobabad to drain away steadily rising floodwaters. “We’ve got to make a way to get the water away, otherwise Jacobabad will be sunk,” said Manzoor Ahmed, who along with others was digging gaps in the embankment. “We’re doing this by ourselves. There are no government people here, not a single one. They’re invisible.” The water being diverted will almost certainly flood another town or village. “They have to look after themselves,” Manzoor said. “We’re protecting ourselves, it’s up to them to protect themselves.” Jacobabad, a typical Pakistani town with dusty, rutted roads strewn with rubbish lining rows of brick shops, is largely deserted. Some people have piled earth in front of their shops in the hope of keeping water out. The town is also home to an airbase which the US military has used in support of the Afghan war. Jamal Shah fled to Jacobabad with his family when his village, about 50 km. away, was flooded. He is considering where he might go next. “Perhaps the best option is Quetta. It’s higher.” Town policeman, Abdul Sami, thought the town would be inundated in a matter of hours. A main road out of town which had been dry earlier in the day, was almost impassable by the afternoon. A motley convoy of trucks stacked high with people and their belongings, cars and herders driving their buffaloes, sheep and goats inched through a long stretch of knee-deep water before eventually reaching dry land