The torrential rains and floods that have hit the large swathes of the country are showing no signs of receding on Monday as flash floods are devouring more and more lives and crushing down roads, bridges, dams and everything that comes in their way. Many cities in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are facing flood threat due to slumping of dams and relentless rains. High alert for Ziarat, Duki, Harnai, Sanjawi as two dams wash away In Balochistan, the Metrological Department has issued a high alert for Ziarat, Sanjawi, Duki and Harnai. Kawas dam in the mountainous area of Ziarat was broken and the gushing waters submerged Kawas, Varchoom and Kanar. Another washed away Sanjawai dam has inundated District Siki. 12 die, 100 hurt in DIK flash folds, city cut off from Islamabad, Lahore Raging floods are wreaking havoc in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In Dera Ismail Khan, 12 people were swept away in the flash floods and more than 200 others got hurt. Hundreds of houses have collapsed and crops destroyed. The trapped people are taking shelter in school buildings and some are squatting on roads. A big torrent has hit a hospital in the DIK. The patients are facing numerous difficulties. The city has been cut off from Islamabad and Lahore. There is also disruption of mobile, internet and electricity services. Nowshera, Chaesadda inundated Nowshera is also bracing the ravages of rain-induced calamity as high flood is recorded in River Kabul at Nowshera. The floodwater has entered the city. Several feet of water has accumulated in schools, hospitals, and houses.

The Police Line and GT Road have been submerged. The people have started evacuating the area and are moving to safer places. High alert was issued for Nowshera and Charsadda when the Munda Headworks collapsed on Friday. Approximately 200-300 feet area of the headworks was swept away in the flood water which has submerged Charsadda and several adjoining areas. The scared people along with their cattle head have left their homes and assembled at Motorway to save themselves from the fury of water. The district administration is making announcements to move people to safe places. Flood water has started entering the low-lying areas, which has submerged 500 houses in the Shahi Qalali area. According to the deputy commissioner, a flood emergency has been imposed in Charsadda and government schools in five union councils have been evacuated to accommodate the flood victims.

The Met Office has issued a high risk alert for the areas adjoining Tarbela Dam in Haripur. The water flow recorded at the dam is 419,600 cusecs and the water flow could be increased any time. The administration has instructed the people who have their settlements along Tarbela and Sindh River to evacuate. Hundreds of villages deluged in Sindh The situation created by heavy rains and flooding in Sindh has worsened as communication infrastructure has collapsed in Tangwani, Moro and Matyari. The Neseerabad Indus Highway has been deluged. There is a long queue of vehicles on the thoroughfare. Toj canal has been breached from several points and the floodwater starts heading to the populated areas at great speed. Many fish hatcheries have been swept away. In Sanghar, 135 villages have been inundated due to breach in Seem nullahs.

Jiskani village in Khairpur is also facing flood threat, As many as 200 villages deluged after Seem nullahs breach. Four die in Larkana roof collapse In Larkana, four people died when their house collapsed due to heavy rain.The incessant rain is lashing the district. Neo Goth has been totally submerged in rainwater. Hundreds of people trapped there due to closure of land routes. The administration has not started rescue and relief operation in the Goth yet. 17-year-old boy electrocuted in Khairpur A teenage boy was electrocuted in Muhallah Ali Murad in Khairpur. For the last 11 days, the administration has been failed to pump out 5-6 feet rainwater accumulated in the locality.

Azlan Murtaza (17) was wading through the water when he stumbled into a live wire and died. Motorway police issues travel alert Meanwhile, the Motorway police has issued a travel alert asking commuters not to travel unnecessarily on the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway M1, Hazara Expressway, Murree Expressway, and Swat Expressway. Pakistan declares rain emergency Pakistan declares emergency as approximately 30 million people have been affected by floods. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said Friday that more than 900 people had been killed this year -- including 34 in the last 24 hours -- as a result of the monsoon rains that began in June. Officials say this year floods are comparable to 2010 -- the worst on record -- when over 2,000 people died and nearly a fifth of the country was under water.

A statement Friday from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif office said 33 million people had been "badly affectedby the flooding, while the countrydisaster agency said nearly 220,000 homes were destroyed and half a million more badly damaged. Two million acres of cultivated crops had been wiped out in Sindh alone, the provincial disaster agency said, where many farmers live hand-to-mouth, season-to-season. Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman, who on Wednesday called the floods a catastrophe of epic scale, said the government had declared an emergency, and appealed for international assistance. Pakistan is eighth on the Global Climate Risk Index, a list compiled by the environmental NGO Germanwatch of countries deemed most vulnerable to extreme weather caused by climate change.

Earlier this year much of the nation was in the grip of a drought and heatwave, with temperatures hitting 51 degrees Celsius (124 Fahrenheit) in Jacobabad, Sindh province. A national fundraising appeal has been launched, with Pakistan military saying every commissioned officer would donate a monthsalary towards it. The worst-hit areas are Balochistan and Sindh in the south and west, but almost all of Pakistan has suffered this year. Images were circulating on social media Friday of swollen rivers obliterating buildings and bridges built along their banks in the mountainous north. Junaid Khan, deputy commissioner of Swat district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, told AFP that 14 riverside hotels had been swept away, along with two small hyrdopower stations.

In Chaman, the western frontier town neighbouring Afghanistan, travellers had to wade through waist-high water to cross the border after a nearby dam burst, adding to the deluge brought by rain. Pakistan Railways said nearby Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, had been cut off and train services suspended after a key bridge was damaged by a flash flood. Most mobile networks and internet services were down in the province, with the country telecoms authority calling it unprecedented.

Credit:
Independent News Pakistan-INP