Many Sindh cities evacuated due to flood

ISLAMABAD - Floods triggered by torrential rains that have left over 1,600 people dead in Pakistan are now turning their fury on Sindh province, forcing the administration to order evacuation of major cities along the Indus river.

Around 1.6 million people have been marooned in Sindh province after floods submerged over 25,000 villages, Ghulam Ali Shah Pasha, chief of the provincial disaster management authority, was quoted as saying by the Dawn.

An officials said the Jacobabad, Thul and Shahbaz airbase are in the path of advancing floodwaters. In Jacobabad, over 500,000 people have been told to abandon their homes after there were reports of breaches in many embankments.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah Friday said flood victims would be rehabilitated in Hyderabad and Karachi where authorities have put up tents for the homeless.

Forecasts by the flood control department have said water in the upper reaches of the Indus has reached “very high” levels, which will travel downstream and create a dangerous situation.

A United Nations official described the floods as a “calamity of biblical proportions”.

“The crisis is not only enormous, it’s still unfolding,” Adrian Edwards said.

Meanwhile, the district administration of Hyderabad has asked voluntary organisations to help in the rehabilitation of the flood-hit people sheltered in camps.

The administration is also looking for land in hilly areas to set up makeshift villages.