<p>Torrential rains have battered lower and upper Sindh and south Punjab and have kept central and upper Punjab on edge for the past four days as flash floods have also been reported across eastern Balochistan.<br /><br />The monsoon rains and thunderstorms have brought untold misery to the interior areas of Sindh province where many villages with their mud houses were swept away, crops destroyed and livestock killed.<br /><br />A top government official said that rescue and relief committees had been formed in every district of the province to carry out relief operations and the government had also announced a Rs 20,000 grant for each affected family.<br /><br />"The government has allocated special funds to provide relief and help the affected people and families," he said. Reports have also said that trucks carrying relief goods were looted and angry and frustrated people had blocked roads in lower Sindh.<br /><br />Federal Minister for Water and Power Syed Navid Qamar said they had reports of 60 people being killed in the rains and floods in lower Sindh and thousands of acres of crops being devastated.<br /><br />"The rains and flash floods have swept away katcha houses and villages and left devastated vast swathes of crops in some districts besides loss of livestock and collapse of thousands of katcha houses," he said.<br /><br />Eight deaths were reported yesterday as heavy rains continued to lash Nawabshah, Dadu, Matiari, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Tando Allahyar, Naushehro Feroze, Badin, Umerkot and Tando Muhammad Khan districts.<br /><br />Badin, one of the worst-hit districts, witnessed looting of trucks carrying relief goods. Six women were injured when the police resorted to baton charge to disperse the crowd.<br /><br />Separately, the National Highway was blocked by enraged locals for several hours in Nawabshah district. Although the agricultural department has not issued the details of crop losses but it is believed that rains have destroyed cotton crop sown over 1 million acres in the 13 rain affected districts of lower Sindh.<br /><br />Qamar said some 30,000 villages in Badin had been evacuated by the Army as the met department forecast 3 more days of heavy rainfall in Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas divisions. Tahir Munir, the chief of Balochistan's disaster management authority said torrential rains had left nine people dead across the province.</p>
<p>Torrential rains have battered lower and upper Sindh and south Punjab and have kept central and upper Punjab on edge for the past four days as flash floods have also been reported across eastern Balochistan.<br /><br />The monsoon rains and thunderstorms have brought untold misery to the interior areas of Sindh province where many villages with their mud houses were swept away, crops destroyed and livestock killed.<br /><br />A top government official said that rescue and relief committees had been formed in every district of the province to carry out relief operations and the government had also announced a Rs 20,000 grant for each affected family.<br /><br />"The government has allocated special funds to provide relief and help the affected people and families," he said. Reports have also said that trucks carrying relief goods were looted and angry and frustrated people had blocked roads in lower Sindh.<br /><br />Federal Minister for Water and Power Syed Navid Qamar said they had reports of 60 people being killed in the rains and floods in lower Sindh and thousands of acres of crops being devastated.<br /><br />"The rains and flash floods have swept away katcha houses and villages and left devastated vast swathes of crops in some districts besides loss of livestock and collapse of thousands of katcha houses," he said.<br /><br />Eight deaths were reported yesterday as heavy rains continued to lash Nawabshah, Dadu, Matiari, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Tando Allahyar, Naushehro Feroze, Badin, Umerkot and Tando Muhammad Khan districts.<br /><br />Badin, one of the worst-hit districts, witnessed looting of trucks carrying relief goods. Six women were injured when the police resorted to baton charge to disperse the crowd.<br /><br />Separately, the National Highway was blocked by enraged locals for several hours in Nawabshah district. Although the agricultural department has not issued the details of crop losses but it is believed that rains have destroyed cotton crop sown over 1 million acres in the 13 rain affected districts of lower Sindh.<br /><br />Qamar said some 30,000 villages in Badin had been evacuated by the Army as the met department forecast 3 more days of heavy rainfall in Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas divisions. Tahir Munir, the chief of Balochistan's disaster management authority said torrential rains had left nine people dead across the province.</p>