The heavy flash floods of 2012 severely affected Jacoabad, Kashmore, Kandhkot, Shikarpur, Larkana and Qambar Shadadkot districts of Sindh province in Pakistan. Water is still standing in many areas of the affected districts adding misery to peoples’ lives. According to the relief department of Sindh, the flash floods claimed 258 lives and affected almost 3,200,000 people of the province (GoS n.d.), two hundred thousand houses were completely destroyed and around 150,000 houses were partially damaged (Daily Kawish 18 Oct. 2012, p.10).

The flood also left negative impacts on agriculture sector damaging around 250,000 acres of standing crops of sugar cane and rice. About 1,000,000 acres of land is still inundated (Ibid.). The flood affected people are staying in state owned schools which affects the education of thousands of children of the flood hit areas. The above mentioned districts received heavy downpours in September 2012. Besides, water from Khirthar range of Baluchistan also entered into these districts.

Standing water of these districts will be drained out to Hamal lake in district Qambar  Shadadkot  and  from  Hamal  lake  water  will come to Manchhar lake through the Main Nara Valley Drain (MNVD). The MNV drain has the capacity to carry 2,235 cusecs of water and it was constructed in 1932 (Memon 2012). From Manchhar Lake through Arral channel, it will be drained to Indus river. In order to reduce pressure from MNV drain, water from Hamal Lake was also released to the right embankment of flood protective bund. By mid-September from Hamal Lake through FP bund, water reached to Mehar tehsil of Dadu district inundating many villages. In these areas, people use boats for transportation. Through this channel, water will also reach Manchhar Lake crossing Kachho area of Dadu district (Daily Dawn 18 Oct. 2012, p.18).  It is estimated that it will take around three months to evacuate the stranded areas, drain out the flood water and restore normalcy in the flood affected districts.

The flash flood waters contained impurities, therefore, it is not fit for human consumption and the saltish water of Manchhar is also no less than a human hazard. Recently, water from Manchhar Lake was released to Indus River through Arral channel in order to create space in the Lake to adjust the coming flood water. But adding the toxic water of Manchhar Lake to the river led to diarrhea and other water borne diseases in Sehwan Sharif and Manjhand tehsils of Jamshoro district (Daily Kawish, 22 Oct. 2012, p.10). Several people had to be shifted to local hospitals. Due to public complaints, the concerned authorities discontinued flow of water from Manchhar to the Indus River (Ibid.). In 2004, almost 40 people children had died of diarrhea in Hyderabad due to mixing of toxic water of Manchhar Lake in the Indus River (Saeed 2007).

This is not the first instance of floods in Sindh. In 2011, 360 people died and 40, 939 villages were affected, whereas, in 2010, almost 22 districts of the province were affected and around 200 people lost their lives (International Federation of Red Cross 2011).

The cost involved in rehabilitation and reconstruction is far higher than timely management of floods. This paper, taking data from hill torrent affected districts of Sindh, will analyse disaster management initiatives and preparedness and will focus on the risk reduction measures to face untoward situations and save precious lives. The paper will also focus on role of the irrigation department and disaster management authorities to devise sustainable disaster management strategies aimed at reducing flood risk and taking timely and proper measures to avert losses.

References

Daily Dawn 2012, Karachi, ‘Stagnant Rainwater, Hill torrents building up Pressure on FP Dyke’, 18 Oct., p. 18.

Daily Kawish 2012, Hyderabad, ‘Water still standing in Six Flood hit districts of Sindh after lapse of Five weeks of Flood’, 18 Oct., p. 10.

Daily Kawish 2012, Hyderabad, ‘Release of Toxic Water of Manchhar Lake to Indus River led to Outbreak of Waterborne Diseases’, 22 Oct., p.10.

GoS n.d. ‘Summary of Losses-Damages due to Rain Flood 2012’, Government of Sindh, Rehabilitation Department, Provincial Disaster Management Authority, <http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/11102012SitRep.pdf> accessed 15 October 2012.

International Federation of Red Cross n.d. ‘Situation Update 2011 Monsoon Floods in Sindh’, <http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/F_R_306.pdf>   accessed 19 October 2012.

Memon, N. 2012, ‘Factors Responsible for Flood Disaster in Sindh’,

<www.lead.org.pk/cscc/attachments/.../Factors_Flood_Sindh_NM.pdf>  accessed 15 October 2012.

Saeed, R.K. 2007, ‘Asia’s Largest Toxic Lake’, Daily Dawn, The Review, February, <http://archives.dawn.com/weekly/review/archive/070215/review1.htm> accessed 15 October  2012.