Alwaght- Pakistani authorities are mobilizing their resources to protect a vital power station supplying electricity to millions of people against a growing threat of flooding, officials said on Monday.
Building a dike in front of it is part of the steps being taken.
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, reported Reuters.
Both the government and UN chief 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 electricity station in the district of Dadu in the southern province of Sindh, 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.
"All preventive measures have been taken already to save the grid in case any flooding happens," Reuters quoted Syed Murtaza Ali Shah, a top district official, as saying to the news agency.
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 the South Asian nation's reconstruction needs after it received 391 mm of rain, or nearly 190 percent more than the 30-year average, just in July and August.
Sindh region received 466 percent more rain than average this year and all the flood waters pass through Dadu, a district with a population of 1.5 million, because of its low-lying location.
