Flood updates: Three swept away at Manchhar Lake as floodwater rises around Mehar city

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 06 Jan 2023

A day after the Sindh irrigation department performed another controlled breach at the dyke of the Manchhar Lake in Sehwan district, a drainage channel failed on Tuesday and three people, including a policeman, were swept away. In Dadu district, meanwhile, Mehar city is on the brink of being flooded as the water level rises around it.

Manchhar Lake

Manchhar Lake – the largest freshwater lake in the country — reached its overtopping point two weeks ago. On Sunday and Monday, two controlled breaches were performed to reduce the water level in the lake.

However, Tuesday afternoon a drainage channel at Zero Point failed and a 50-feet gap emerged. The water swept away three people including a policeman.

The controlled breaches at the Manchhar Lake are aimed at protecting Sehwan and Bhan Saeedabad.

The first controlled breach, performed on Sunday at point RD-14, did not help reduce the water level in the lake, and on Monday, another breach was performed at point RD-52.

Since vehicles could not ply on the dyke due to sludge, machines were unable to arrive at RD-52. For the first time, laborers used shovels and spades to cut through the dyke.

As soon as the breach was completed, water gushed towards over 200 villages of five Union Councils located south of the lake. The villages included Wahur, where Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has a home. His other ancestral village of Bajara, also in the Sehwar district, was flooded last month.

The water from the lake will flood 200 villages before entering the Indus River.

North of Manchhar Lake, in Dadu district floodwater level is constantly rising. At least three tehsils of Daddu — Johi, Khairpur Nathan Shah, and Mehar — have already been flooded. The tehsil headquarters of Khairpur Nathan Shah was the first to drown. Now, Mehar and Johi cities are at risk.

Latest reports on Tuesday suggested that the water level near Mehar was increasing. People have been constantly reinforcing the ring dyke to protect the city.

In Johi tehsil the flood has drowned almost 80% of the areas,SAMAA TV’s Irfanul Haq reported.

People were still trying to flee Johi city on Monday when the SAMAA TV crew arrived in the city.

The panic was caused by the reports of the Main Narra Valley (NVM) Drain swelling up. The NVM Drain runs north-south and passes east of Johi city.

The water from this drain falls into Manchhar Lake, which has already run out of capacity.

Member Sindh Assembly Pir Mujibur Rehman, who visited the drain, has said that a fresh flood torrent from Balochistan was headed towards Dadu and if flood water did not find a drainage path, there could be more destruction.