BBC
9 August 2010 Waters have exceeded the danger level at a key flood barrier in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh. The Sukkur Barrage flooding means Sindh faces as much devastation as that seen further north in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, say experts. Enraged survivors have been physically attacking government officials in flood-hit areas, amid widespread anger at the pace of the relief effort. At least 1,600 people have died in the region’s worst deluge in 80 years. With more than 14 million people already affected, the monsoon rains show little sign of abating. On Monday, a new international radio initiative called “info-as-aid” made its first broadcasts in Urdu and Pashto in an effort to spread information about accessing aid and also about countering disease. Flood waters have roared down from the north to the agricultural heartland of Punjab and on to Sindh along a trail more than 1,000km (600 miles) long. In the early hours of Monday morning, the water flow coming down the Sukkur Barrage was recorded at up to 1.4m cusecs (cubic feet per second). It is only designed to withstand 900,000 cusecs. Upper Sindh is already under water, and rescuers are continuing to evacuate people from the province, where the Indus river banks are at risk of bursting. Two million people have already left the area. Meanwhile, two major private Pakistani television channels, Geo and Ary, have reportedly been blocked in Karachi and other parts of Sindh. No official reason has been given, although correspondents say media criticism of President Asif Ali Zardari and his government’s response to the flood disaster is likely to have played a key role. …
Pakistan floods threaten key barrage in southern Sindh
