Sindh CM mobilises local authorities as heavy rainfall wreaks havoc

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah was briefed by local government minister Saeed Ghani that local authorities had been mobilized throughout the province amid torrential rains that had occurred in several districts on Sunday, reported Dawn.

Heavy rain spells started on Friday night in the interior Sindh districts and continued till Sunday, severely damaging the drainage and electricity networks, and resulting in massive flooding in both urban and rural regions.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted that Sindh will get significant rainfall and thunderstorms on Monday as well.

On Sunday morning, Murad, chairing a high-level rain emergency meeting at CM House, said that torrential rains left the highways in a flooded state. Moreover, the streets in Sukkur, Dadu, Jacobabad, and Naushahro Feroze, too came under the grip of waterlogging.

He continued by saying that to safeguard people's lives and property, strong action must be taken, followed by dewatering operations, reported Dawn.

"I want to see the entire government machinery -- including district administration [and] local bodies, particularly in the rain-affected areas -- working on the roads, helping people, and the irrigation department patrolling on the embankments of the canals and distributaries to avoid breaches," Sindh Chief Minister said.

Among those in attendance at the meeting were Salman Shah, the director general of the Sindh Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Rangers DG Major Gen Azhar Waqas, representatives from Corps Headquarters and Komkar, and Weather Director Ameer Hyder, according to Dawn.

The conference was viewed via a video link by the commissioners of Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Shaheed Benazirabad, and Mirpurkhas, as well as the irrigation minister Jam Khan Shoro and the mayor of Sukkur, Arsalan Shaikh.

At least 22 people were killed and several others were injured in the first week of August as torrential rains wreaked havoc across Pakistan.

The heavy rains, at that time also caused widespread losses to life, property, and infrastructure.

Heavy rainfall in the plains and hilly parts of Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and Balochistan flooded rivers and streams and caused landslides in mountainous places.