QUETTA: Heavy monsoon rains continued to lash northern and eastern Balochistan on Wednesday, triggering flash floods, landslides, and widespread damage across the region.
The torrential downpours have washed away link roads and led to the suspension of traffic on major highways, effectively cutting off the provincial capital, Quetta, from numerous district headquarters. While Quetta itself has not experienced severe rainfall, the surrounding areas have been severely impacted.
In the Hanna Urak valley, flash floods and overflowing seasonal streams have caused significant destruction, damaging many mud houses and affecting orchards, with apple orchards suffering the most. In the Ziarat area, a breach in the Zindra dam has resulted in large-scale flooding, damaging roads and isolating Ziarat from Quetta and other regions. The collapse of mud houses in Zindra has left many residents homeless.
The monsoon rains have also affected other parts of the province, including Loralai, Qila Saifullah, and Kohlu. Landslides on the Zhob-Dera Ismail Khan highway disrupted traffic for several hours, further complicating the situation.
Tragedy struck in Nasirabad district, where a 10-year-old boy lost his life and another was injured when the roof of their house collapsed due to the heavy rain. Urban areas, including Dera Murad Jamali, are facing flood-like conditions, with rainwater entering human settlements and exacerbating the crisis.
Relief Commissioner and Director General of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Balochistan, Jahanzeb Khan, visited the flood-stricken Hanna Urak valley to assess the situation and was briefed on the ongoing restoration and mitigation efforts.
