Floodwater disconnects Dadu as bridge near Sehwan collapses

The overflowing water from Manchhar Lake partially collapsed a bridge near Sehwan city and subsequently disconnected Dadu and Larkana districts from both sides of the Indus highway.

According to National Highways & Motorway Police (NHMP), all kinds of traffic going to Dadu has been blocked due flood water on Indus Highway near Sehwan.

According to authorities, Sehwan Airport and Sindh Chief Minister’s native village Bajara have also been submerged. The Indus Highway from Khairpur Nathan Shah had already been submerged for over a week.

احتیاط کریں: سڑک بند ہے!

مقام: این-55، نزد سیہون ٹول پلازہ (کلومیٹر 140)۔
وجہ: سڑک خراب / سیلابی ریلا

— National Highways & Motorway Police (NHMP) (@NHMPofficial) September 6, 2022

According to the district administration, water is continuing to flow from Manchhar Lake embankment RD- 54 and 52 and it had entered the limits of the five union councils.

Union Council Bobak and Jafarabad are completely submerged, the number of affected villages has reached 150, officials said.

The embankments of the Manchhar Lake were given two more cuts on Monday as the single breach given on Sunday failed to reduce the water pressure.

Already, 100,000 people have been displaced in efforts to keep the lake from overflowing, and if it breaches its banks, it could affect hundreds of thousands more, authorities said.

The region faces the dangers of water-borne and skin diseases, dengue fever, snake bites and breathing issues, Azra Fazal Pechuho, health minister for the southern province, told a news briefing.

She said 856,000 patients had been treated since flooding began in July, mostly from field and mobile hospitals.

“Over 1200 of our health facilities are underwater,” she said, adding the field hospitals were receiving nearly 20,000 diarrhoea and 16,000 malaria cases daily.

Flooding, brought by record monsoon rainfall and glacier melt in the north, has impacted 33 million people and killed at least 1,325, including 466 children, the national disaster agency said.