Pasni Dam Bursts: Heavy Rains Kill 150 in Pakistan
By Salim Javed with Murtaza Baig - Pakistan Times Staff Correspondents

QUETTA: More than 150 people have been killed across Pakistan in the heaviest rains in 16 years that caused a dam to burst, provincial officials said on Friday.

Authorities rushed thousands of troops to join rescue operations in the remote southwestern Balochistan province, where some 20,000 people had been affected by the floods, Raziq Bugti, a government spokesman in the province said.

Officials said at least 60 people died on Thursday night after Balochistan's Shadikor dam burst, sweeping through villages near the coastal town of Pasni. More than 60 more died from heavy rains in other parts of the province.

Missing

Some reports said hundreds were missing, though officials said there were no reliable estimates. "Relief operations are in full swing. Army, paramilitary rangers and coast guards are trying to pull out people stranded in the flood water," Bugti added.

Officials said at least five villages, home to around 7,000 people, had been submerged by waters that poured through the 35 meter (115 foot) high and 300 meter long embankment of the dam, constructed just two years ago.

"Sixty bodies have been recovered in the Pasni area. They were all killed due to the dam burst," provincial minister Sher Jan Baluch said. Baluch said 4,000 army and paramilitary troops were involved in the relief efforts.

Heavy rains and floods have killed at least 51 people in many different areas of Balochistan while nearly 500 people are missing.

Provincial Minister Sherjan Baloch said that due to the destruction of the back portion of the Shadikor dam floods have surrounded many villages and at least 40 corpses have been recovered from the villages near the dam while 500 people are missing.

Three officials of the coastal guards in Pasni have drowned in the floodwater from which two have been saved while one has been killed. Heavy rains have also destroyed many areas of the Makran division while a passenger van has drowned due to the floods.

The booking office of the passenger van said that this coach was on its way to Turbat from Karachi and got engulfed in flood wreckage near Turbat. The stormy rains also disrupted the electricity system in the Makran division.

State of Emergency

In Balochistan, a state of emergency has been declared in coastal areas of Makran and Pasni sub-division in the backdrop of Shadi Kor dam breach.

The worse affected areas are Awaran, Sibi, Bolan Nushki Sibi and Hub, which are inundated by flood water.

Pasni is under three to four feet water and people climbed at their rooftops to save their lives.

Reports from the area reaching here reveal that floods in Basil River have also inundated two villages of Ormara.

Rescue and Relief operation is underway in the province on the directives of President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Mohammad Yousaf in a statement said that Navy Marines helped by helicopters and boats have reached the area and started rescue operation.

Army, navy and coastguard teams had reached the area and rescue work was in full swing. At least 10 helicopters were airlifting marooned people to safer places, he said.

A C-130 Hercules aircraft was arriving from Islamabad later Friday with food, medicines and relief goods, he said.

The 25-metre-high, 147-metre-long dam was built in 2003 at a cost of 45 million rupees (758,853 dollars) for irrigation. It was full when it burst, the minister said.

Residents said many people were missing. “I have seen 15 bodies myself,” a local resident Abdul Razzaq told media by telephone from the area.

A Turbat-bound bus coming from Karachi overturned while crossing the flooded Groki stream near Shadi Kor on the coastal highway, officials said Friday.

Rescuers saved 30 passengers while bodies of 20 were also recovered from the stream in the incident that occured Thursday. Efforts were underway to trace five missing passengers.

The provincial government has declared emergency in Pasni tehsil as a result of the incessant rains that have hit most parts of former Mekran division.

Officials have confirmed death of a person in Pasni in flooding, which has disrupted electricity and water supply in the town, while army and navy troops are carrying out relief and rescue operation in the area.

Flood waters entered Pasni after a dam 40 km away was breached amid torrential rains in the Shadi Kor area isolating many villages.

Pressure flash floods

Executive Engineer Irrigation Muhammed Hashim Mandokhel said the dam could not sustain the pressure of the flash floods.

The communication and works department has started work to open Turbat-Gwadar road which was closed at Jotlar hill due to heavy rains.

A emergency cell has been set up on the directive of Balochistan Chief Minister to monitor the relief operation in flood affected Pasni district, said Provincial Minister for Tourist and Culture Sher Jan on Friday.

In a telephonic interview, Jan said Pasni district is most affected area in the Balochistan as bank of Shadi Kor dam broke as water level rose behind its capacity.

He said about 50,000 to 60,000 people were affected due to flood in the province.

The minister said some portions of the coastal highway are also damaged.

The Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) will send 500 tents, blankets and foodstuff for people hit by heavy rains in Pasni in Balochistan and Mansehra in North West Frontier Province.

The relief consignment is to be handed over to the cabinet division on Saturday for air lifting.

The PRCS has asked its Balochistan Branch to send teams to the affected areas to assess further needs and requirements of the affected people.

Pakistan Army along with Pakistan Navy (PN), Frontier Corps (FC) and Coast Guards (CG) are carrying out the rescue and relief operations in the coastal areas of Balochistan which have been badly hit by flash floods and torrential rains on Thursday night.

Gwadar and areas of Sunstar, Dasht River, Turbat and Mand, Ormara and Pasni, Awaran and Lasbela, Coastal Highway and RCD Highway have been affected by flash flood, says a press release of ISPR issued here Friday.

The troops wherever present in the area immediately rescued the affected people and carried out relief works. The rescue operations are underway in coordination with the civil administration.

Four helicopters each from Army and Navy, two from Ministry of Interior and one from PPL were flown to the flood affected areas to provide immediate relief to the people.

Troops are being moved both by road and C-130s whereas Naval assets are sailing to the area along with medical teams, engineer task forces, a large quality of medicines, blankets, tentage and food to the flood affected areas.

Naval sailors equipped with Zulu boats and flood relief equipment are in the area of Ormara and Pasni. Pakistan Navy Special Flood Relief team stationed at Karachi with its equipment has also been mobilized to proceed to area of Pasni.

This team is capable of undertaking a full scale rescue and relief operation independently. Frontier Corps in the areas of Turbat, Mand, Awaran and Lasbela remained busy in rescuing the affected people throughout the night.

Having sensed a flood in Ketch River, they rescued 500 women and children from the low lying areas to safe places at about 3 am, while two cars were swept away by a hill torrent in Mand area.

The Frontier Corps rescued six persons trapped in these cars. Moreover a tent village has been established to settle down the effected persons.

Kalat Scouts alongwith National Highway Authorities undertook an emergency task of re-opening RCD Highway when two bridges at Daro and Kakhar Bali between Lasbela and Khuzdar were wiped off. The road was opened at 1130 hours on Friday.

The reconnaissance reports flown by Army and Naval helicopters indicate that the Shadi Khor Dam and one kilometre portion of Coastal Highway, about 30 kilometre west of Ormara, have been badly damaged. Pasni Airport and pasni city are generally safe but the low lying areas of the city are under water which is receding.

Road link between Pasni city and coastal highway has been partially damaged along with the bridge. Main bridge on Shadi Khore Dam is intact but road leading to the city has been damaged.

Mud houses located on Shadi Khor Dam road have been washed away and people are being shifted to safer places. Emergency cells in all Military hospitals in Balochistan have been established and teams of doctors are present round the clock.

A number of doctors along with ample medicines and staff have moved to the flood effected areas to provide immediate medical care/treatment.

Main Coastal Highway

The navy was also called in to help, with at least three bridges along the main coastal highway washed away, and 11 helicopters flew over flooded areas to help rescue trapped people.

The torrential rain and snowfall has claimed more than 90 other lives elsewhere in Pakistan over the past week, with many more people reported injured and missing. Most of the fatalities were caused by avalanches, flash floods or by collapsing roofs.

In the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), near the border with Afghanistan, at least 30 soldiers were caught in an avalanche in the remote Teerah valley on Thursday and there was no word on their fate.

Greatest Alarm

But the greatest alarm was over the burst dam near Pasni, some 800 km (500 miles) south of the provincial capital, Quetta.

Baluch said more than 1,400 people had been saved by rescue workers and troops in the Pasni area and other parts of Baluchistan. "Most of them took shelter on higher ground and some climbed trees to save their lives."

Pakistan has seen its heaviest rains and snowfalls for 19 years, the Meteorological Department said.

NWFP

'Pakistan Times' Peshawar Bureau adds; The incessant rains and heavy snowfalls in Pakistan claimed more lives on Friday afternoon when a small village in Swat division was reportedly buried under the glacier and scores of inmates of the village Bud Serai are feared killed.

Unconfirmed reports say some 200 people are missing. In the provincial metropolis at least four people died and many injured when a rooftop of a house in the cantonment area caved in.

Reports reaching from Swat say the entire village consisting of 20 houses, some 15 kilometers from Mankiaal near Kalaam valley was literally buried under tons of ice when a glacier from the nearby mountain rolled down Friday afternoon. The official circles confirmed the incident but they expressed inability to give the exact casualties.

The locals of the area say scores of people have been killed and a large number of others are injured. Some reports say 200 residents of the village are feared to have been buried alive under the glacier. Locals say the village is almost wiped out.

The roads around the ill-fated village are blocked and the rescue teams are finding no entry point to the site to help the affected people. Nazim Swat along with the senior officers and the rescue teams rushed to the site on hearing the news but they had to return from Behrain as all the routes onward were blocked by the landslides and the heavy snowfall.

Scores of people were killed when thunder-bolt hit the same village in 1992. On Thursday alone, 14 people of a family were killed by the deadly glacier in the same Mankiaal area. Locals of the area feared heavy casualties as several victims are stranded under tons of mud and ice helplessly. The locals as well as the residents of the adjacent villages, are finding it extremely difficult to rescue the victims owing to their limited sources, harsh weather conditions and totally disrupted means of communication.

In Peshawar, four people who include three kids and their mother were crushed to death when the rooftop of their mud house in the slum area called Miskeen Abad Nothia caved in Friday afternoon. The locality falls in the cantonment area. Reports say the father of the misfortunate kids and few other inmates of the house were injured seriously.

Likewise a person was reported dead in Hangu Division when the sealing of his house collapsed due to torrential rains. Some reports say an Army officer was killed in Tiraah mountainous region when hit by the landsliding. Unconfirmed reports say many soldiers accompanying the deceased officer are still missing.

The recent spell of the rains and snowfalls has badly affected the life in district Mansehra, Kohistan and Battagram.

Around 9 people have died in different incidents of the rain in the region in last two days.

The Kaghan-Narain road in Mansehra, and Allahi road in district Battagram have been closed for the last ten days have multiplied the miseries of the people. Many parts of the country have suffered from heavy rains in recent days, and snow has blanketed northern mountainous regions, cutting telephone lines and disrupting road links.

Due to landsliding and snowfall the Kaghan-Narain, Jabber, Mundagusha, Davil, Bettal, Sithan-Gali, Chaterplan, Oghi-Battagram roads are still blocked and related departments were making all-out efforts to restore the traffic on these roads but continuous rains and snowfall hampering the operation.

In district Mansehra and Battagram over 100 houses have reportedly been completely or partially damaged, and around 200 cattle-heads died.

Chitral

In Chitral, heavy snowfall and continued rain disturbed life. The rain is continuing for the last 10 days as well as heavy snowfall continue for the last 3 days. Some 3 feet snow recorded on the town area of Chitral. While upper parts of the district received heavy snowfall upto 10 feet. The only land links that connects Chitral to Dir has closed at Lawari pass by 15 feet snowfall on its top.

President Hindukush Journalist Forum (HJF) Chitral Mian Mehboob Ali Shah Kaka Khel has visited Yarkhun, Broghul and upper parts of Chitral in an Army Helicopter. He along with a team analyzed harm and losses by rain to the area. The main transmissions of electricity line from Dir to Chitral was broken at Lawari top due to heavy snowfall as a result power supply has also been disconnected and the whole area plunged in darkness.

Besides it essential food items also short in the local market. Liquid gas, firewood and eatable things are also not available at Chitral. While dwellers of upper parts face dilemma because all roads of upper Chitral have been blocked or closed due to snowfall and landsliding and they faced great hardships due to non-availability of essential commodities.

Local Hydel powerhouse is also not working properly and most of the area remain in darkness. Old people of Chitral are saying that such a heavy tremendous rain and snowfall recorded here since 1942. This year Chitral received snowfall at 10th time. Standing crops and orchards also badly damaged due to rain and snowfall.

While inhabitants of the area have been besieged and confined in their houses. The district administration also fail to overcome settle these problems. A team of residents of Yarkhun people reached here by feet to Hindukush Journalist Forum office and complained about their miseries that what problems they are facing. Chitral faced millions of rupees loss due to recent rain and heavy snowfall.

These people have numerous problems because their cattle also have nothing to eat. Telephone system have been failed and disconnected in the whole area except town area. Drosh, Mulkho, Turkoh, Majtuj and upper parts of the district are totally disconnected and its communication system has been failed due to snowfall. Recent rain and snowfall has increased miseries for people and created so many problems for these people. PIA flights are also cancelled for the last 10 days due to bad weather.

CM orders Relief

The Chief Minister NWFP Akram Khan Durrani has sanctioned on Friday a sum of Rs. 58 million for rehabilitation and assistance of the rain affected people of the province. In this connection the Provincial Government has also demanded initially Rs. 100 million from the Federal Government to supplement and boost the relief efforts. NWFP is the worst affected province due to current heavy rains and unprecedented snowfalls particularly in its northern areas of Chitral, Hazara, Swat, Dir and Malakand etc.

The Chief Minister NWFP has directed the Relief Commissioner, all DCOs, MPAs Revenue Department and Police Department to ensure collection of factual and verified data of the losses and to submit the report within one week period.

The Relief Commissioner will coordinate and implement the relief package. The Chief Minister NWFP further directed to disburse and provide relief to the affected people at their doorsteps without any delay.

Northern Areas

Another three people died, and two are missing, after an avalanche hit them in Astore valley near Gilgit, the main town in Pakistan's mountainous Northern Areas, police said.

The Northern Areas, where the Himalaya, Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountain ranges meet, have been cut off, with roads buried under several feet of snow and the Chitral valley particularly badly affected.

KKH Blocked, Flights Suspended

The Karakoram Highway, linking Pakistan and China, has been blocked and flights have been suspended since Feb. 3, said residents of Gilgit, the main town in the Northern Areas.

Weather officials said the intensity of rains had subsided in Balochistan but would continue in most of the rest of Pakistan for the next 24 hours.

Musharraf grieved over loss of lives by rains

President General Pervez Musharraf has expressed his profound grief and sorrow over the loss of lives and damage to property following unprecedented rains in the country particularly in Balochistan province.

The President said all resources have been mobilized to provide relief and succor to the affected people.

He said all relevant institutions of the country including armed forces have been employed for providing assistance to the rain-affectees.

Issues Directive

General Pervez Musharraf directed all concerned to take urgent measures so as to prevent further losses and emphasized timely assistance to the needy. He assured the people that the federal and provincial governments were closely monitoring the situation and necessary assistance would reach wherever needed.

He said the federal government would be forthcoming in extending more assistance to the provincial governments in all forms for the affected people.●