Punjab floods kill 30; authorities breach dykes to divert rising waters

The flood situation in Punjab has aggravated as the flow of water in the rivers is increasing rapidly after death toll across the province rises to 30, Aaj News reported.

The next 24 hours are being declared dangerous for Islam Headworks on the Sutlej river, while extremely high flood levels of 211,000 cusecs is passing through Head Baloki in Ravi river. There is high level of flood in the Ravi at Shahdara as well. Breaches are being made at different points in the levees to divert floodwaters, as Punjab reels from raging floods.

The dyke of the Sutlej River in Vehari has broken, due to which several areas including the village of Khachi have been submerged, while land communication has been cut off. Flood carrying one million cusecs water will pass through Multan Saturday evening. Evacuation of people from the affected villages is also underway.

Meanwhile, explosives have been planted to create cracks at Head Muhammad Wala and Sher Shah in the Chenab river. A crack has been made in the embankment at Burewala. Whereas, RRA-1 dyke has been breached to save Kasur city.

The dam of the Mini Dam in the Domeli area of Dina Tehsil of Jhelum River has broken, due to which water has entered houses.

15 people have been rescued from Manga Mandi and Malhi village. The Sutlej River is in extremely high flood at Ganda Singh Wala. While the water level at Head Islam has gradually increased to dangerous level.

Director General Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Punjab Irfan Ali Kathia said that due to the breach of the dam in India, water moved towards Kasur. This is the highest level of water in history that has entered Kasur from the Sutlej river after 1955. A crack has been made in the RRA-1 dam to save Kasur city.

Additionally, 280 villages have been submerged due to the floods, while a total of 1.5 million people have been affected by the floods, of which 248,000 people have lost their homes.

According to the PDMA, 30 people have died in the province due to floods so far, but timely rescue operations have prevented further loss of life, while dozens of people are missing.

Meanwhile, high-level water inflows wreaked havoc in Pakpattan, causing several safety dams to break while several settlements were submerged. The submergence of a major road has cut off the land access of several settlements, adding to the distress of the residents of the area. Meanwhile, dozens of villages in Headmarala and Sialkot were submerged, paralysing life and causing people to suffer from diseases.

On the other hand, water flow is rising in the Indus River as well, with a low-level flood continuing at Sukkur Barrage.

According to barrage officials, the inflow of water at Sukkur Barrage has increased by 31,000 cusecs during the past 24 hours.

The officials reported that the water inflow at Sukkur Barrage has reached 315,172 cusecs, while the outflow has been recorded at 260,512 cusecs.

Authorities said they are closely monitoring the situation as the rise in water levels may pose risks to nearby low-lying areas.

NDMA relief operations

On the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said it continued to provide support for relief and rescue operations in flood-affected areas.

The NDMA has provided 500 ration bags each to the flood-hit areas of Sialkot and Narowal. Each ration bag weighs 46 kilograms and contains 22 essential items.

The relief supplies will be distributed through the respective district administrations, the disaster management authority said.

The NDMA dispatched a convoy of eight trucks, carrying relief goods for Sialkot and Narowal.

Relief trucks for Wazirabad, Hafizabad, Chiniot, and Jhang will be dispatched in the coming days, it maintained.

The NDMA said it has a plan to deliver 4,200 ration bags in different flood-affected areas — 500 ration packs in Wazirabad, 500 in Hafizabad, 1,000 in Chiniot and 1200 in Jhang.

These relief ration packs have been specially prepared to meet the immediate needs of families affected by flooding, and they include basic food items and other essentials.