"Our homes have been destroyed, there has been no drinking water and no food for the last four days," Ghulam Jan, 27, a farmer from a nearby village, told AFP during the protest. "No government official or agency is helping us. We have no place to go, there is water everywhere," Jan said.
Six people were injured in the protest, including the local police chief, officials said. Most of Turbat was submerged and people sat on the roofs of their huts and mosques. After days of braving the rain they now face blazing heat after the clouds finally cleared.
But helicopters bearing aid were again grounded because of continuing downpours in Quetta, aid officials said. Khuda Bakhsh Baloch, Balochistan relief commissioner, said that 1.1 million people have been affected by the cyclone and subsequent floods after figures from another district came in.
Around 250,000 of them are homeless, while at least 21 have died and officials say the death toll is likely to rise once the waters subside. "The situation is serious, we know that people are suffering," Baloch told AFP. "The more rain that comes, the worse it gets."
"Yesterday we started providing aid for a few hours, we saved some lives but we couldn't do it properly because of the weather. Today we have been trying to start the helicopters since morning but it is impossible," he added. "We have the relief goods, we have the people but we cannot work because of the inclement weather."
The military says it has around a dozen helicopters and several cargo planes trying to airdrop water, food, shelter and medicine to people in the disaster zone. Fresh rain damaged a bridge near Quetta, cutting the main road link between Pakistan and neighbouring Iran, officials said. Quetta and nearby towns have also been without gas for 48 hours after floods swept away a main pipeline.
Chairman, National Disaster Management Authority Major General Muhammad Farooq (Retd) said relief and rescue operation was in full swing in the ten rain and flood affected districts of Balochistan and four districts of Sindh. Briefing newsmen, he said six C-130, loads of relief goods, including rations, mattresses, tents, mineral water, rice and medicines had been dispatched by the federal government for Turbat, Sibbi, Ormara and Pasni in Balochistan.
He said six C-130 sorties would operate daily from Saturday (today) for Balochistan to carry relief goods for the affected areas. Pakistan Army has established Flood Relief Centre in Jacobabad to co-ordinate all activities relating to relief and rescue.
Army relief camps at Sibbi and Gwadar are feeding 500 persons each while three villages in Sibbi have been provided relief goods. The Authority chairman said relief camps at Turbat, Naseerabad and Jaffarabad would be opened within the next two days.
Giving details about evacuation, he said 200 stranded people had been rescued in Turbat district, 30 in Sibbi while efforts were underway to evacuate 400 to 500 people stranded on Coastal Highway in Hangol Area. Similarly, efforts are in hand to rescue 300 to 400 people stranded due to breach in Coastal Highway in Ormara area.
He said according to information provided by the provincial governments, 90 people had lost their lives in Sindh and 14 in Balochistan. More than 24 people are missing in Balochistan and 29 are missing in Sindh coastal area.
The cyclone and rains disrupted electricity, water and communications in Balochistan while about 600 fishing boats have either been swept away or damaged. Makran Coastal Highway has been damaged at four places while RCD Highway is damaged between Bela and Wad. Quetta-Daddar National Highway is also damaged and gas supply to Quetta, Pishin, Ziarat and Mastung is disrupted.
General Farooq said the federal government had already released two hundred million each for Balochistan and Sindh governments to help cope with the situation. The Sindh government has provided 20 million rupees to City Government Karachi to take care of city's relief and rehabilitation requirements.
The Sindh government has also announced Rs 100,000 compensation for the loss of bread-earner and Rs 50,000 for each dead. According to a news release of ISPR issued here Pakistan army launched a heli-borne rescue operation and evacuated around 400 individuals stranded due to heavy rains and flooding of Hangul river in Balochistan.
During the course of rescue operation 340 individuals stranded on coastal highway in Aghor area in different pockets have been evacuated. Around 50 Hindu pilgrims, who were on their routine pilgrimage to Siri Mata Temple, were also rescued. The pilgrims got stranded when severe rains multiplied by thunderstorms hit the area, which resulted in flooding of rivers and adjoining nullahs.
Besides army helicopters, doctors and paramedics of Pakistan army also participated in the rescue and relief operation and provided medical assistance to the victims of severe rains and floods. Distribution of food items and drinking water was also carried out during the operation as most of the victims were facing acute malnutrition due to non-availability of edible items.
Wapda Chairman Tariq Hamid, dispelled the rumours regarding the Mirani dam and said that the recent rains had caused no damage to the structure of Mirani dam.
Tariq maintained that at present the dam has capacity to store more water, as it has a crest level of 284-feet while on Thursday morning the highest water level of 271.44 feet was recorded that still is a safe level. He averred that water at the dam was at a high level, but after a few days the situation became normal. "A team led by the Dam Safety Organisation and Member Water visited all the dams, including at Mangla and Tarbela, and they gave an 'OK' report, as no damage occurred in the dams. Both Mangla and Tarbela dams still have the capacity to store 50-feet of water," he added.
The Wapda Chairman disclosed that the recent spell of rains also decrease the demand of electricity, hence no load shedding would take place in these circumstances.