The death toll from the heavy rains battering Balochistan for the past five days has risen to six, with 25 others injured in various incidents across the province.
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) announced that the N-70 highway, connecting Balochistan to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has been closed due to the severe weather. Many vehicles are stranded at Dhana Sar due to landslides in the Koh-e-Suleman mountain range in eastern Balochistan.
Traffic from Peshawar, Swat, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi has been halted at Dera Ismail Khan, with the Zhob-DI Khan Road blocked at Dhana Sar because of the rains in Zhob and Sherani. Authorities in Zhob and Qilla Saifullah have been instructed to stop the flow of traffic.
The PDMA has dispatched teams for rescue and relief operations to assist the stranded travelers.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) forecasts that several areas, including Islamabad, Murree, Galyat, Gujranwala, Narowal, Sialkot, Balakot, Mansehra, Abbottabad, and Swat, will experience rain today. Additionally, parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, KP, and Balochistan’s Khuzdar, Awaran, and Lasbela are also likely to see downpours.
Earlier this week, the Met Office reported that moist currents from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal are moving into southern and eastern Pakistan, bringing thundershowers and gusty winds to Sindh and other regions.
This is not the first instance of severe weather in Balochistan in 2024. In April, the provincial government declared a rain and flood emergency after continuous heavy rains affected various districts, resulting in fatalities and injuries. In March, torrential rains in Gwadar prompted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to announce a relief package during his visit to the city, where over 40 people died in related incidents.
