Cyclon Yemyin plays havoc in Balochistan

Quetta (Pakistan), June 27: Tens of thousands of people have moved to safer places after cyclone Yemyin and high tides hit major parts of Balochistan coast and Ormara yesterday and caused havoc in Pasni and Gwadar towns in Southwestern Balochistan province.

The cyclone caused widespread damage but did not claim any life. Home Secretary Tariq Ayub said that no one died in the cyclone because the government had taken maximum precautionary measures, forewarned the people and helped them to move to safer places, Dawn newspaper reported.

He said army and navy helicopters rescued over 100 people from Gadani and Sonmiani and most of them were fishermen.

At least nine people, including a policeman and two Hindu pilgrims to Hinglaj temple, lost their lives in floods and rain-related incidents in different parts of Balochistan.

The policeman died in the Karakh area.

Rains and floods in seasonal rivers disrupted road communication between Khuzdar and Shahdadkot.

Most of the people of Gwadar town took shelter at Koh-i-Batil, the highest hill in the area. A senior official in Gwadar Iqbal Nadeem said that high tides measuring between 10 and 20 feet lashed the Makran coast near Gwadar.

The met office's announcement of a powerful cyclone moving towards the coast caused panic among the people yesterday prompting them to flee to safer places. The cyclone hit the Koh-i-Batil, the natural breakwater for the newly-built Gwadar Deepsea Port.

Tidal waves lashed the other side of Gwadar coastline inundating the airport area of Shambey Ismail. The tides also lashed the Pasni airport and adjoining areas.

According to the met office, the cyclone was subsiding and forming into a low pressure causing massive rains. Heavy rains played havoc with life, property and infrastructure, disrupting Balochistan's road links with the rest of the country.

The major bridge linking Quetta with Karachi near Bela Town was washed away by floods. More than 800 vehicles, passenger coaches, trucks and buses, were stranded.

Quetta Chief Minister Jam Mir Mohammad Yusuf said a large number of people were marooned in Lasbela district and it was impossible for government officials to provide them immediate relief.

Mr Yusuf said that over 600 fishermen had been rescued from the cyclone zone near Gadani and Sonmiani.

The Makran region was cut off from the rest of the country from all directions. The road communication between Panjgur and Turbat was also cut off and people were stranded at different places from Gichk and Hoshap.

Almost all the seasonal rivers are in high floods destroying hundreds of mud-houses in the vast areas of Makran.

In central Balochistan, road communication was disrupted between Quetta and Sibi as a bridge near Mach was washed away.

Heavy rains were also reported in Bugti and Marri hills and central Balochistan inundating the whole of Kachhi plains.

The worst affected were Jhal Magsi, Ghandawa, Jaffarabad, Naseerabad and adjoining areas.

UNI

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