Larkana

Geography

Larkana is situated at Latitude 24 56' 00' and Longitude 67 11' 00'. It is situated in North-western Sindh and it has own division. It is also included in upper Sindh.

Climate

Larkana is a monsoon climatic region. Summer is extremely hot as temperature reaches at 53 °C and winter is a little cool as temperature drops to −2 °C. On May 26, 2010 the mercury hit at record 53.4 °C becoming the hottest city in the country's history. On May 31, 1998 the mercury hit the at 52.7 °C. On May 18, 2013 the temperature in the city remained at 50 degrees Celsius in Larkana. This hot weather sometime cost human lives. In June 2007 couple of people died as a result of hot summer. Hot weather keeps many in the city to remain at home, several cases of fainting are occasionally reported. Hot days continue from May till September, followed by Monsoon Rains, sometime bringing floods in the nearby areas. Monsoon season starts from July and continues till September and brings Torrential Rains. Pre-Monsoon also occurs occasionally in the month of June while post-monsoon occurs rarely. On July 8, 2003 Larkana experienced a cloudburst of 209 mm in just 12 hours due to a well marked low pressure which came from Bay of Bengal. Thunderstorms are very common, they often develop in all months. Most dangerous thunderstorm occurred on April 21, 2012, it was a supercell thunderstorm which came from west side with heavy downpour due to strong Western Disturbance which was developed in Gulf of Oman. Duststorms are also very common in summer and monsoon especially from March to September. On March 27, 2013 a duststorm came with the damaging winds of 90 km/h due to a severe thunderstorm and it brought some rainfall also. Hailstorms are unusual and occur mainly from February to April. Larkana experienced a powerful hailstorm in April 2006 and again on 14 March 2015 followed by heavy downpour. In 2012 Larkana received heavy downpours of 236 mm from 5–10 September which flooded the whole city. Same as in August 2011 also, the city received intermittent heavy Rains from 25 to 31 August and again in September 2011 with time to time. In Monsoon of 1994 the city received 510 mm of rainfall as most powerful low pressures hit Sindh which is the highest rainfall recorded in past 25 years.

Chairman MCL

Abdul Khalique Bhutto, Advocate, First Chairman Municipal Committee Larkana-1979 to 1984. Mr. Khan Muhammad Sanghroo from Dokri (a Taluka in Larkana District) was elected Chairman Municipal Committee Larkana in 2016 Local Government Elections.

Administration

Deputy Commissioner is the head of District Administrative system. Mr. Kashif Ali tipu PAS is the Deputy Commissioner Larkana since Oct. 2016. The district of Larkana is administratively subdivided into the following talukas:

Education

Several old and new schools, colleges, as well as university are functioning in the city for both boys and girls. Many are private and public institutions.

Schools and Colleges

Some schools such as Government Pilot Higher Secondary School (founded in 1926 by the British colonists), Girls High School, Public school Larkana, Deeni Madersa High School and Government Degree College. The technical institutes like Polytechnic Institute and Teachers' Training College.

University and Campuses

SZABIST opened its first ever campus in Larkana in the year 2004. It offers degrees in BBA (Day), BA (Day), MBA (Evening), EMBA. Few year later the SZABIST Trust established two school and college in the city; Montessori to Class VII (Junior School) and Class VIII to XII (School and College).

Chandka Medical College (CMC) was established and inaugurated by the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto on 20 April 1973. It was the fourth public medical college to be established in the province of Sindh. Chandka Medical College is recognised by Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC). The College of Physicians & Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) has also established its regional center at the campus of CMC Larkana. CMC is recently upgraded to Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University.

In 2009, Quaid-e-Awam University College of Engineering Science & Technology (QUCEST), Larkano, was established in the outskirt of Larkana, under the directives of Government of Sindh in collaboration with Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering Science & Technology (QUEST), Nawabshah, Sindh. The campus offers the bachelor of engineering degrees in the technologies of civil engineering, mechanical engineering, electronic engineering and electrical engineering.

Transport

Larkana Railway Station is located in the center of the city. It connects Larkana to the rest of Sindh and Pakistan. Pakistan Railway also assists in the transportation of agricultural products to provincial capital Karachi from Larkana.Moenjodaro Airport is located near Mohen-jo-daro, 28 km away to the south of the city of Larkana, about 5 kilometres away from Dokri. The main users of the airport are Pakistan International Airlines, the country's national flag-carrier. The outdated infrastructure of the airport prevents the use of large, advanced aircraft, with the PIA largely using Fokker aeroplanes for flights

Larkana is connected via land buses to most major cities in the country, including Karachi, Islamabad, and Quetta.

Sport

Larkana was the birthplace of Sindh Games, it also hosted the 12th Sindh Games in 2009 which included sports such as football, gymnastics, hockey, judo, karate, squash, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, weightlifting, and wushu. It also included traditional games such as Kodi Kodi, malakhara, shooting and wanjhwatti. Larkana is also home to Larkana Bulls.

The Larkana Tennis Association, provides an only Tennis court in Larkana, and coaches young boys coming from various other cities.

Notable people