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Balochistan in particular has seen uncharacteristically heavy rains during the monsoon season this year. In the last 24 hours, nine of a family drowned after they were swept away by the floods, a local media reported citing Pakistan's disaster management authorities.
The deceased include seven children and a woman, the Dawn reported. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, at least 10 people were killed and 17 injured in floods and roof collapses, according to a report issued by the PDMA. It said that in the last 36 hours, nearly 100 houses were completely damaged in the floods leaving residents stranded in waist-high water and no roof. Pakistan's government enforced Section 144 in Balochistan province as heavy rains continue to lash parts of the country. According to the Dawn, Balochistan Chief Secretary Abdul Aziz Uqaili, while addressing a press conference on Friday said, "Section 144 has been enforced in the province and the citizens have been advised to avoid unnecessary travel for 10 days." He said that since June 1, rains have taken the lives of 124 people and damaged 10,000 houses in the province. The floods damaged approximately 565 km of roads and 197,930-acre of agricultural land while 712 livestock also died," Uqaili added. Pakistan's disaster management authorities on Saturday said that heavy rains and floods left 19 more dead and hundreds of others stranded in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The data, issued by PDMA, stated that Peshawar, Swabi, Charsadda, Shangla, Khyber, Dera Ismail Khan, and Bajaur have been the most affected areas. The PDMA has warned that there were high-level floods in the Kabul and Jandi rivers and instructed the administration to relocate people living in neighbouring areas. Meanwhile, the road link between Balochistan with Sindh was completely cut off after a bridge and a road connecting the two provinces were damaged in Lasbela and Khuzdar, respectively. Traffic on the Quetta-Karachi highway was still suspended due to collapsing of major bridges and the sweeping away of big portions of the highway, the Dawn reported. Disastrous spells of monsoon rains have led to the collapse of two dams, Jara and Tabina, in the Toba Kakar range of mountains in Balochistan. The two dams collapsed in the Toba Achakzai offshoot in the Tasharbat, Zemel Shadizi, Mako Kech, Zemal, Ghabarg, Adozai, Farakhi and its suburban parts. After the dams' collapse, the floodwater wiped out cattle, crops and farmlands in the affected areas. It is pertinent to mention here that land connectivity to Toba Achakzai was disconnected from other parts of the country for four days. Separately, trade between Pakistan and Iran was suspended after rains and flash floods washed away the Quetta-Zahedan rail track at various points, the Dawn reported. In its latest forecast on Saturday, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) predicted more rains, and thundershowers in various parts of the country during the next 24 hours. MET advised the travellers and tourists to remain more cautious during the forecast period. (ANI)
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