Badin: Five drowned, electrocuted, more breeches feared

Though the rain has stopped in Badin, water is still rampant in brooks and it is being feared that the water may cause more breaches in the drains flowing in the district.More than 500 villages in Badin district have come under the water which is flowing towards the coastal areas. The government has stopped the flow of the main irrigation canals to avoid further loss, but the authorities could not plug the wide breaches in the drains.Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (SIDA) spokesman said they did not have access to these breaches so far to plug the same to avoid further losses. He said, since the water flow is beyond expectations, we could not press machines into service to stop it. He claims the breaches to LBOD were reported from three points and destruction of small canals in Badin and Mirpurkhas districts had inundated wide areas. However, local activists say the LBOD alone had 40 breaching due to high tides and caused breaches in other drains. They said wide areas of the coastal zone in Badin and Thatta districts had been affected and water was still flowing to the areas and may affect more villages, because no steps had been taken thus far to stop the flow.Initial reports say the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) breached from seven different places, inundating wide areas, caused houses and crops damages, but later it received 40 breaches. Besides other areas, breaching to LBOD from RD-1, near Jati, affected 20 villages in Thatta coastal areas. People were reluctant to leave their houses, taking the plea that they were safe. Local activists tried to convince them to avoid any loss and shift their families but they refused and living in a vulnerable situation.