Two cuts were made to the Larkana-Sehwan (LS) bund on Friday to prevent floodwaters – gushing from Manchar Lake and Main Nara Valley Drain (MNVD) breaches – from entering Dadu city and its neighboring areas as the death toll from the climate catastrophe rose by 36.
The cuts, made at RD-99 and RD-100 near Karampur city in Sehwan, were expected to divert water from the breaches made to Manchar Lake’s protective dyke.
According to the authorities, water from these breaches was threatening Dadu city, Bhan Syedabad, and Sehwan taluka – the constituency of Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. Sindh Special Secretary Jamal Mangan said that the cuts had been made at a distance of a few kilometers from the Danister Wah (channel) of Manchar Lake.
He said that the move was the only option available to accelerate the release of water into Indus River, adding that it was approved after noting some reduction in the river’s flow upstream Kotri Barrage.
“The release of flows from cuts at LS Bund will ease the pressure of water in cities and some recession will be noted now,” Mangan added.
The Irrigation Department has planned another cut into the bund which would be made towards the Tati area of Sehwan. Floodwaters that breached MNVD’s RD-10 and flows coming from two cuts at Manchar Lake accumulated near the Indus Link Canal along the LS Bund of the Indus River.
In recent days, two breaches were deliberately made in Manchar Lake’s protective dyke to divert the flow of floodwaters draining into it towards less populated areas and prevent flooding in the densely populated cities of Sehwan and Bhan Syedabad.
However, the flows from Manchar Lake submerged seven union councils of Sehwan and its toll plaza, disconnecting the taluka from the main section of the Indus Highway and the rest of the districts located along the highway, according to Jamshoro Deputy Commissioner Fareeduddin Mustafa.
He said that large-scale evacuation of people from areas such as Talti, Bhan Syedabad, Malook Shah, and others took place on Wednesday and Thursday to keep them safe from the floods.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that 36 more people died across the country over the last 24 hours, taking the death toll since June 14 to 1,391.
