Pakistan’s Tharparkar, Umerkot districts receive ‘record’ rainfall in June

Islamabad [Pakistan], June 18 (ANI): Torrential rains coupled with cyclonic winds have caused widespread devastation in Nagarparkar, Islamkot and Diplo talukas of Tharparkar region on Friday night and Saturday, Dawn reported.

Dawn is a Pakistani English-language newspaper.

Cyclone Biparjoy, which mainly hit the Indian state of Gujarat, created chaotic conditions across the coastal belt of Sindh, most parts of Mirpurkhas, Badin, Tharparkar and Umerkot districts received heavy rainfall, besides dust storms, thunderstorms and many back-to-back spells of light, moderate and heavy spells of rain, over the last four days, as per Dawn.

Residents in the three talukas of the desert region told the media on Saturday evening that over the last 24 hours of continuous downpours, hundreds of houses and other structures were destroyed rendering thousands of people homeless and leaving a large number of animals dead.

They said gusty winds not only uprooted countless trees but also blew away roofs of thatched houses across the region.

“Some people also received injuries during the storms and downpours,” residents of several villages said.

According to local officials, Nagarparkar received the maximum of 270 mm rainfall, followed by Mithi (196mm), Diplo (175mm) and Islamkot (143mm), Dawn reported.

They believed that it was record rainfall in this arid zone of the country for the month of June. The people who lost their houses, livestock and other valuables demanded adequate compensation and urged the government to immediately order a survey to assess the losses caused to each family in the affected region.