Sindh | Pakistan

KARACHI: The Sindh government and Pakistan Railways (PR) have agreed to collaborate on finalising the modalities for the revival of the long-delayed Karachi Circular Railway (KCR). During a meeting at the CM House on Friday, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah proposed to Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi that technical experts from both Sindh and PR should jointly work out the modalities of the project. According to a statement issued by the CM House, the chief minister stressed the urgent need to revive the KCR and expressed frustration over the project’s continued delays. The statement said that the KCR would serve an estimated 650,000 passengers daily and provide critical east–west and north–south connectivity across Karachi. However, it added, the updated feasibility still awaits approval from Chinese authorities as the project is set to be executed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The chief minister proposed to the minister a collaborative approach, suggesting that the Sindh government and...

RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted torrential rains in Sindh, besides eastern Punjab, from Sept 7 to 9 with occasional gaps. According to it, a low-pressure system currently exists over the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and is likely to move towards west and northwest. It may travel to Rajasthan and its adjoining parts of Sindh on Sept 6. Due to this weather system, strong monsoon currents are likely to penetrate Sindh and eastern Punjab from Sept 6 onwards. The Met department has predicted that under the influence of these meteorological conditions, widespread rain and windstorm / thundershowers, coupled with scattered heavy to very heavy falls, are expected to hit Tharparkar, Islamkot, Nagarparkar, Chachro, Dhali, Diplo, Kaloi, Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Khairpur, Shaheed Benazirabad, Matiari, Tando Allayar, Tando Mohammad Khan, Hyderabad, Karachi, Thatta, Badin, Sajawal, Jamshoro, Dadu, Kashmore, Sukkur, Larkana, Jacobabad, Shikarpur and Ghotki from Sept 6 (evening /...

Residents of low-lying katcha areas in northern Sindh have begun evacuating following forecasts of potential flooding as rising waters approach the province.

• Mass evacuations underway due to exceptional floods, downpours in Punjab • Authorities execute controlled breaches along Chenab River to save critical barrages, bridges, and major urban centres • Urban flooding in KP areas leaves neighbourhoods submerged; minor dies in Peshawar • Ghizer district faces increased flood risk due to glacier melt, PMD issues alert LAHORE/ PESHAWAR / GILGIT: While severe flooding in Sutlej, Ravi, and Chenab rivers prompted mass evacuations across Punjab, the situation aggravated due to a renewed spell of downpour and a barrage breach in India, leaving Sindh to revise flood displacement estimate, now projecting over 1.65 million people at risk along both banks of the Indus River. In the country’s northern parts, glacier melting threatened further floods in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Ghizer district as per Met Office warning and some Khyber Pakhtunkhwa areas, including Peshawar, recorded urban flooding amid heavy rains. Authorities in Punjab are grappling with what they call an unprecedent...

KARACHI: As Guddu Barrage is set to receive inflows of 700,000 to 800,000 cusecs next week, the Sindh government fears the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people living in areas along the Indus River’s banks due to the high flood. A meeting, chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah to review the flood situation in the province, was informed by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and the irrigation department that a high flood was expected to hit Guddu Barrage between Sept 3 and 4, potentially displacing over 52,000 families. The CM instructed the PDMA and district administrations to get ready to establish more than 500 camps along river embankments to protect affected communities and livestock. “In case of a major flood wave, not a single life, human or animal, should be lost,” he stressed. He also directed the deployment of over 30,000 personnel of Rescue-1122 and 178 boats — 72 in northern districts and 106 in southern districts — to respond to potential emergencies and s...

KARACHI: As Punjab was severely hit by flooding after heavy rains and excess water released by India from its dams, the Sindh government on Wednesday braced for high flood risk and established ministerial committees comprising elected representatives to deal with the developing situation. Official sources told Dawn that the Pakistan Peoples Party government mobilised its elected representatives in Sindh, appointing provincial ministers as focal persons to oversee the right and left banks of the Indus River within their respective jurisdictions. Fearing mass evacuation, the government also instructed the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to arrange necessary logistics such as boats, tents, ration bags, medicines and machinery, the officials said. The health department has been asked to mobilise medical teams to counter potential outbreaks of waterborne diseases. KMC asked to arrange safe shelters in Karachi; Guddu and Sukkur barrages face ‘very high flood’ threat from Sept 4 to 5 Sindh Chief Mini...

• Lower riparian takes measures to tackle inflows from swollen Indus tributaries at Guddu Barrage • Irsa director says flood of about 650,000 cusecs likely at Guddu if current situation persists HYDERABAD: As Sindh anticipates a very high flood between Sept 1 and 3 at Guddu Barrage — its first barrage on the Indus River — due to the swollen eastern rivers currently wreaking havoc in Punjab, the downstream province has asked the authorities to reduce outflows from Tarbela Dam to help it manage the deluge. As multiple rivers submerge Punjab, Sindh has reached out to the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) to reduce outflows from Tarbela and retain water at Chashma Barrage — a request accepted by the authority. The provincial irrigation authorities are keeping an eye on flows generated in the Chenab, Sutlej, and Ravi rivers, as all these rivers converge in the Indus at Mithankot after passing the Panjnad Barrage built over the Jhelum River. At Panjnad, all tributaries of the Indus meet on their way to the sea th...

The Sindh Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Saturday said that it found involvement of the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in the target killing of a man in Badin district and arrested six suspects in this connection. On July 30, the CTD had said it arrested four suspected members of a banned separatist militant group in Karachi over charges of killing a man in Badin’s Matli on May 18. During interrogation, the suspects had confessed that they had gunned down the victim, identified as Abdul Rehman. A case was registered under terrorism charges. According to a statement by the law enforcement agency today, “In a joint operation, Sindh CTD and the state intelligence agencies traced the network working for the Indian intelligence agency RAW (Research & Analysis Wing) and arrested six suspects.” It added that the 45-year-old victim was “an innocent citizen who actively participated in welfare work”. “The suspects escaped after unjustly killing him,” the statement said, adding that ...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast heavy rains in Sindh and eastern and southern Balochistan from August 27 to 29, as a fresh monsoon system moves in from the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.

ISLAMABAD: Autho­rities on Wednesday war­ned that heavy rainfall, ranging between 50 to 100 mill­­imetres or more, would batter Karachi and parts of Sindh over the next 12 to 24 hours, raising concerns of urban floo­ding, waterlogging and disruption to daily life. According to the Zoom Earth weather tracking website, an intense system forming over Sindh would hit urban centres like Hyderabad and Karachi after midnight on Wedn­esday. The system, which is likely to head out to sea by the morning, might precipitate heavily concentrated downpours in lower Sindh. A spokesman for the National Disaster Mana­gement Authority (NDMA) advised residents in vulner­able areas, including Karachi, Hyde­rabad, Thatta, Badin, Mirpurkhas and Sukkur, to remain alert and closely monitor official updates to mitigate potential hazards. Urban flooding is expe­cted to persist in Kar­achi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Mirpurkhas due to continued downpours and poor drainage infrastructure. Simultaneously, districts such as Thatta, Badin, Jams...

All public and private schools and colleges in Karachi will remain closed today as heavy rains have left parts of the city waterlogged, the Sindh Education Department announced. Power was nearly restored across the city, and only a few roads had remained inundated after Tuesday’s heavy downpour before a late evening spell of heavy rain accompanied by gusty winds on Wednesday interrupted Karachiites’ hopes for a quick return to normalcy. The Sindh government had ordered all private and public educational institutions across the city to remain closed on Wednesday, after Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab declared a rain emergency. Notifications issued on Wednesday by the Sindh government’s college and school education departments stated that schools will remain closed today due to the heavy rain. The notices are available with Dawn.com. The government notified that the closure will apply to all private and public institutions in Karachi division, which are under the administrative control of the Sindh government’s Col...

One new poliovirus case was confirmed each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh, bringing Pakistan’s total count this year to 21, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Monday. Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic. Despite global efforts to eradicate the virus, challenges such as security issues, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation have slowed progress. A statement from the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at Islamabad’s NIH said the latest cases involve a six-year-old girl from Union Council Pattan in KP’s Kohistan district, and a 21-month-old girl from UC Matli-2 in Sindh’s Badin. “With these detections, the total number of polio cases in Pakistan in 2025 has reached 21, including 13 from KP, six from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan,” the statement noted. Polio was a highly infectious and incurable disease that could cause lifelong paralysis. The only effective protection against the debilitat...

Sindh Minister for Local Government Saeed Ghani said that arrangements were in place to deal with the upcoming monsoon spell as parts of Karachi received light rain on Monday. Monsoon rains fall across the region from June to September, offering respite from the summer heat and are crucial to replenishing water supplies. However, heavy downpours also trigger deadly floods, landslides and displacement, particularly in vulnerable, poorly drained, or densely populated areas. Under the influence of approaching monsoon currents, Karachi experienced hot and humid weather on Sunday and the Meteorological Depart­ment forecast rain with thunderstorms for today in the city. Speaking at a press conference in Karachi, Ghani said: “There are chances of severe rains in Sindh, especially in Karachi, with chances of urban flooding … regarding that, whatever is humanely possible, which a person, government or institution can do, we have made those arrangements.” He added that instructions were given earlier as well about rain...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast rainfall accompanied by strong winds and thunderstorms in Karachi and several districts of Sindh from Sunday evening or night.

KARACHI: The Sindh government has allotted 300 acres of land in Jhimpir to Moro Power Company (MPC) for establishing a 100-megawatt hybrid wind and solar project, the first business-to-business (B2B) electricity venture under the province’s own regulator. Officials said the project, to be executed under the Sindh Electric Power Regulatory Authority (SEPRA), will enable MPC to supply power directly to industries in Nooriabad through the Sindh Trans­mission and Despatch Company (STDC). The initiative is aimed at providing industries with reliable and cheaper renewable energy, reducing costs and strengthening the provincial industrial base. Sindh is the only province in Pakistan to have its power regulator, giving it authority to set tariffs and oversee generation, transmission and distribution independently of the federal government. The Jhimpir project is therefore viewed as a pioneering step towards decentralised power generation in the country. Moro Power to set up 100MW wind-solar hybrid project in Jhimpir ...

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has called on the federal government to allocate more funds for Sindh’s development.

National health stakeholders on Tuesday called for greater advocacy and public awareness to ensure the success of Sindh’s upcoming human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign. The HPV vaccine protects against genital warts and most cases of cervical cancer. Estimates indicate that every year in Pakistan, 5,008 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 3,197 die from the disease. It is also the third most common cancer in women nationwide and the second among those aged 15 to 44. The Sindh government recently announced it would launch an HPV vaccination campaign in September for schoolgirls aged nine to 14. Studies and clinical trials consistently showed that HPV vaccines were extremely effective at reducing infections with the types of the virus that can lead to cancer, as well as cervical precancers. An event titled ‘Safeguarding Girls’ Futures’ was organised by Aga Khan University’s Department of Paediatrics and Child Health today, aiming to raise awareness about HPV, share global evidence on the vac...

KARACHI: The Sindh government has officially announced a public holiday on August 15, 2025, Friday for all public and private educational institutions, to honour Chehlum of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA), which falls on 20th Safar 1447 AH, ARY News reported. The announcement regarding the school holiday on Chehlum was circulated through a notification on August […]

The Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has announced a new oil discovery at the Chakrun-1 exploratory well in the Chakar–One Oil Field, located in Tando Allah Yar, Sindh.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued the schedule for by-elections on 52 vacant local government seats in 19 districts of Sindh, with polling set for September 24, 2025.