Twenty-five more villages submerged in Pakistan
By Qurban Ali Khushik
Wednesday, 15 Sep, 2010 DADU: Twenty-five more villages in Sehwan and Johi came under water on Tuesday as the level continued to go up in the Manchhar lake, triggered by floodwater coming from the Tori bund breach. The rising water level continued to exert pressure on the lake embankment from Zero Point to Bubak on Tuesday. The water level in the lake reached 120.5RL (reduced level) till filing of this report on Tuesday night, just five inches below the top level. This was the same point close to Zero point where a breach had occurred in 1994. Although the water level has crossed the original highest point of embankment, irrigation officials and area people, supervised by Sindh Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, continued to dump stones and bags of mud and raised the embankment 1.5 feet more from Zero Point of Main Nara Valley Drain. When water started overflowing, irrigation officials stopped heavy machinery because of weakening of a portion of the embankment and continued consolidating the embankment by dumping stones and mud through tractors and pickups. … Irrigation officials continued widening the cut made at Aral head canal to release more water into the Indus. In a related development, the Taluka administration of Sehwan failed to supply drinking water to over 100,000 people of the town after the suspension of water supply from the Indus river as polluted water of Manchhar was released into it. … The district administrations of Jamshoro and Dadu have still not rescued over 50,000 people of Jhangara, Bajara, Chhinni, Shah Hassan and 70 villages that are facing shortage of food. Wahid Bux Nohani of Jhnagra road said that stranded people were facing shortage of food and water.
