The historic city of Sehwan in District Jamshoro, Sindh, is still vulnerable to an imminent flood as the waters of Manchar Lake continue to rise.
The controlled breaches that were recently made in the lake’s embankments have made no significant difference and the flood has already reached the main Indus Highway, threatening to isolate Sehwan from Dadu.
The local irrigation department made the first breach in the embankment of Manchar — Pakistan’s biggest freshwater lake — at Bagh-e-Yousaf on Sunday to prevent Bhan Syedabad and Sehwan from being flooded.
However, a single breach proved to be insignificant as the lake covers an area of around 200 km, which is why two more breaches were made on Monday when the water level reached 126 Reduced Levels (RL).
Despite the additional breaches, Sehwan and Bhan Syedabad were still unsafe and a fourth breach was made on Tuesday at Zero Point. Consequently, several surrounding areas were submerged and the flood swept away three people who were later rescued by locals.
People in the region have begun evacuating their homes and carrying away precious belongings.
Meanwhile, officials claim that water from the fourth breach is likely to flood more areas, including Bhan Syedabad.
Murtaza Shah, a district administration official, stated, “Till yesterday there was enormous pressure on the dikes around Johi and Mehar towns, but people are fighting it out by strengthening the dikes.”
He added that 80 to 90 percent of the locals have already left the area.
A mini tsunami continued to swallow all kinds of human settlements in the lower parts of the province and it has now reached the Indus Highway between Sehwan and Dadu. Several families are already stranded because of the overflowing of Manchar Lake and locals and irrigation authorities estimate that the Dadu will soon be cut off from Sehwan.
The floodwaters have also reached the Sehwan Airport, and the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) reported that a part of the Indus highway near Khairpur Nathan Shah is inundated, severing the land routes between Karachi, Hyderabad, and Dadu.
The provincial government and the irrigation offices reported that the Manchar Lake flood situation will likely last for another eight to ten days as the Indus River can only accommodate the additional flood water after its own floodwater level is reduced.
The spokesperson for the provincial government, Murtaza Wahab, stated that the water in the Indus is also increasing instead of decreasing, and more cuts have been made in the banks of Manchhar to relieve its water pressure.
