BADIN/THATTA/SEHWAN: The water level in the Indus River rose to dangerous levels, with water from the overflowing Manchar Lake flowing back to the to lack instead of the Indus. It has resulted in a crack in the ring dam near the town of Bhan Syedabad, giving rise to fears that the increasing water level would result in further breaches with city residents told to evacuate.

The town near Sehwan, home to around 150,000 people, has been cut off from Sehwan as the main land route, the Indus Highway, has been flooded.

Around 500 villages of seven union councils of Sehwan have been affected by the water from Manchar Lake.

This was despite the artificial breach made on the water body’s dyke on Sunday. Several natural breaches have also occured in Pakistan’s largest freshwater lake putting several hundred villages and over 150,000 people in the path of floodwaters.

Water entering homes

Floodwaters have entered houses in the Raju Nizamani area of Thatta, as Sindh desperately struggles to come to terms with the catastrophic spillover.

Water has also flooded the railway track, resulting in a closure of the station. It also caused derailment of bogies of relief trains.

A similar situation was reported from Qamber Shahdadkot - a district of 1.3 million - which is surrounded by water on all sides.

The sub-districts of Dadu, including Khairpur Nathan Shah, are also in the range of flooding. Hundreds of villages in Mehar and Juhi are under water.

Badin is also battling flood as displaced people struggle to stay afloat in make-shift camps and tent cities, while flooding has destroyed crops including cotton worth tens of millions of rupees.

Lawmaker turns lawbreaker

Meanwhile, locals have blamed Member of National Assembly from Sanghar Naveed Dero of breaching the Mithrao Canal to protect his crops.

When the administration tried to close the breach, they faced resistance from the lawmaker’s people, after which they returned.