ISLAMABAD, Aug 4: After torrential rains in most parts of the country, medium to high flood situation has developed at Chashma barrage because of surging upstream hill torrents and tributaries of River Kabul and Chashma barrage.

A senior official of the federal government told Dawn on Sunday that the medium-to-high flood situation was likely to create a similar situation at Taunsa barrage after two days, followed by high-flood situation at Guddu barrage in about five days.

However, in the absence of time-lag in sharing information about the flood situation, various agencies of the government are facing coordination problems. He said the situation had been noticed by the Federal Flood Commission (FFC) and the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) but there was no system in place which could provide advance information about the changing river situation.

He said Irsa took an initiative on Sunday to step up administrative coordination among provincial irrigation authorities and the federal flood-related agencies. The irrigation authorities have been directed to provide hourly and five-hourly information about changing water situation between Chashma and Taunsa barrages. Based on the information advance assessment can be made about water situation downstream.

Officials said the flows at Chashma barrage had crossed 665,000 cusecs on Sunday evening that was described as ‘medium-to-high flood situation’. The flows were rising at the barrage.

According to the FFC, River Kabul was in high flood at Warsak and in medium flood at Nowshera. River Swat was flowing in low flood in the morning at Charsadda Road Bridge but flows were rising. Other main rivers – Jhelum, Chenab and Sutlej – were flowing at normal level but were rising.

The total actual river flows at rim stations were 528,000 cusecs on Sunday evening. Tarbela and Mangla dams are at elevations of 1,535 feet and 1,211.95 feet, respectively, 15 feet and 30.05 feet below their maximum conservation levels of 1,550 feet and 1,242 feet. As such, the total combined live storage position of Tarbela, Chashma and Mangla reservoirs was recorded at 11.037 MAF (million acres feet) compared to last year’s 5.362 MAF.

The FFC said the monsoon low over south-eastern Rajasthan (India) and adjoining areas has converted into trough. A seasonal low lay over eastern Iran. Saturday’s trough of westerly wave still persists over northern parts of the country. Moist currents from the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea were penetrating into central and lower parts of the country up to 5,000 feet.

The met office forecast scattered thunderstorm and rain with isolated heavy falls over Sindh (Karachi, Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana divisions), eastern and coastal Balochistan, D.G. Khan division and Kashmir over 24 hours.

Scattered thunderstorm/rain are also likely over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Punjab (Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Lahore and Bahawalpur divisions), including upper catchments of Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej during the same period.