Authorities in Pakistan are striving to protect a vital power station supplying electricity to millions of people against a growing threat of flooding, Reuters reported on Monday.
The officials are taking steps such as building a dike in front of the power station.
Floods from record monsoon rains and glacial melt in the mountainous north have affected 33 million people and killed almost 1,400, washing away homes, roads, railways, livestock and crops, in damages estimated at $30 billion.
According to Reuters report, both the government and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres have blamed climate change for the extreme weather that led to the flooding, which submerged nearly a third of the nation of 220 million.
The power station in Dadu district in the southern province of Sindh, which is one of the country’s worst affected areas, supplies power to six provincial districts.
Troops were busy strengthening a dike built in front of the station, a visit to the site showed on Sunday, according to Reuters report.
“All preventive measures have been taken already to save the grid in case any flooding happens,” Syed Murtaza Ali Shah, a top district official, said as quoted by Reuters on Monday.
The comment followed orders from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, reported by state broadcaster Radio Pakistan, to ensure the 500kV power station did not get flooded.
UN agencies have begun work to assess Pakistan’s reconstruction needs after it received 391 mm of rain, or nearly 190% more than the 30-year average, in July and August.
