LAHORE: Pakistan authorities blew up an embankment next to a monsoon-engorged dam on Wednesday as flooding submerged one of the world’s holiest Sikh sites.
Three transboundary rivers in the east of the country have swollen to exceptionally high levels as a result of heavy rains across the border in India.
It has triggered flood alerts throughout Punjab province, home to nearly half of Pakistan’s 255 million people. The army was also deployed to help evacuate tens of thousands of people and livestock near the Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers.
Authorities carried out a controlled explosion of an embankment at Qadirabad dam on the Chenab River on Wednesday as the water levels rose. “To save the structure, we have breached the right marginal embankment so that the flow of the water reduces,” said Mazhar Hussain, the spokesperson for Punjab’s disaster management agency.
The Kartarpur temple, where the founder of the Sikh faith Guru Nanak died in 1539, was submerged by floodwater near the border with India. Five boats were sent to the sprawling site to rescue around 100 people left stranded. Pakistan authorities said neighbouring India had released water from upstream dams on its side of the border, further increasing the volume of water reaching Pakistan.
Islamabad’s foreign ministry said New Delhi had given advanced notice through diplomatic channels ahead of opening the dam spillways. Indian government officials have not commented.
The disaster management authority issued emergency alerts and advised those living near the Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej rivers to “immediately move to safe locations”. “I urge the public to evacuate the floodplains along the Ravi River, as the water flow is the highest since 1988,” provincial disaster chief Irfan Ali said.
The flood surge “is expected to pass through Lahore tonight and tomorrow morning”, he said of the Punjab capital.
Pakistan has been battered by a brutal monsoon season this year, with landslides and floods triggered by torrential rain killing more than 800 people since June.
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