The death toll from the recent floods, which are estimated to have affected around 33 million people, passed 1,500 on Friday as there were reports of receding water levels in Sindh, where floodwaters and mountain torrents converged after wreaking havoc elsewhere in the country.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), 22 flood-related deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. Since June 14, 1,508 people have died.
In its daily situation report, the NDMA also said nine persons were injured in flood-related incidents in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 12,758.
The recent floods, which brought record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in the northern mountains, also swept away homes, vehicles, crops and livestock and caused an estimated $30 billion in damage.
The Pakistani government and the United Nations have blamed climate change for the rise in water levels due to record summer temperatures, with Pakistan receiving 391mm of rain in July and August, nearly 190 percent more than the 30-year average. This rose to 466 percent for Sindh, one of the worst affected areas.
The water level in Sindh is ‘falling’.
On Friday, there were signs of life returning to normal in some parts of the province as water levels continued to recede.
Dadu Deputy Commissioner (DC) Murtaza Ali Shah told Dawn.com that the flood water level has dropped by around two feet at various places, including the ring fort, in Mehar town of the district.
He said there was still eight to five feet of water in adjacent areas of the city, but the level was steadily receding. And “markets in the city have started to partially open,” he added.
Dadu Deputy Commissioner Mohsin Sheikh told that residents of Mehar, who had moved to safer places due to the floods, have started returning after the water level receded.
Besides, DC Shah said that the water level has also gone down in the same way in Khairpur Nathan Shah.
Separately, PPP MPA Pir Mujeebul Haq, who was elected from Dadu’s PS-74 constituency, told Dawn.com that the water level in the main drain of the Nara valley has dropped by two feet.
In Johi, MNA Rafique Jamali, elected from Dadu constituency NA-235, said that the water level is about eight to nine feet high in the city and that the water level is receding at the city ring road. He said the markets have started to partially open in Johi.
PPP MNA Sikandar Ali Rahoupoto, who was elected from NA-233 constituency in Jamshor, estimated that the water in Bhan Syedabad and adjoining areas has risen to eight to nine feet after the water level dropped by about two feet.
“Bhan Syedebad partially opened,” he said.
According to the official in-charge of Manchhar Lake Irrigation Cell, Sher Mohammad Mallah, the water level in Manchhar Lake, which has been one of the major threats to the flood-ridden province, was recorded at a reduced level of 121.5 feet on Friday morning.
The website of the Flood Forecasting Division showed that the Indus River witnessed a moderate flood on Friday afternoon.
Flooding in the southern province of Sindh has left hundreds of thousands of people homeless, with many sleeping on elevated roads to protect themselves from the water.
“We have been purchasing tents from all manufacturers available in Pakistan,” Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said in a statement on Thursday.
Yet one-third of Sindh’s homeless do not even have a tent to protect them from the elements, he said.
Over the past few weeks, authorities have erected barriers to keep flooding away from key structures such as power plants and homes, while farmers who stayed behind to try to save their livestock faced a new threat as feed began to run out.
Meanwhile, authorities have set up a “tent village” at the 500-kilowatt substation in Dadu.
According to Substation Chief Engineer Zulfiqar Solangi, 100 tents have been erected at the site so far and 900 more are under construction.
Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir also confirmed the establishment of the tent village, saying that the Pakistan Army and officials from other departments were working together to build a protective embankment to protect the grid from flooding.
“The 500-kilowatt substation supplies electricity [to the] country, so it was important to protect it,” he said.