• Low-lying areas inundated in Vehari
• Rains likely to continue until Aug 27

LAHORE: The Sutlej River was in medium to high flood on Thursday night, with water pouring over the spillways at different sites at a higher rate than normal, whereas rescuers evacuated over 6,500 people from flood-hit areas of Punjab over the past 24 hours, officials said.

The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) reported that floodwaters entered Vehari district and inundated low-lying areas after the flow rate at Islam headworks increased to a high level from 94,000 to 120,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs).

However, a medium-level flood at a flow rate of 115,000 cusecs was passing through the Ganda Singh Wala barrage and at 117,000 cusecs through Sule­manki headworks. (One cubic foot is roughly equal to 28.3 litres.)

The PDMA said in a report that over the previous day, it had set up 75 camps, transported 4,683 people to safe places, rescued 6,658 others, transported 1,002 head of cattle and served food to 7,317 people in the affected districts, including Bahawalnagar, Kasur, Okara, Vehari, Lodhran and Bahawalpur.

Officials said on Wednesday that rescuers had already evacuated more than 100,000 people from flood-hit areas of eastern Punjab in the past three weeks.

The rescue operations were expanded last week after several hundred villages and thousands of acres of cropland were inundated when the Sutlej River burst its banks on Sunday. Most of the evacuations were reported in Bahawalpur and Kasur districts.

Small-scale evacuations began in July after India diverted water from dams into the Ravi River, which flows from India into Pakistan.

A PDMA spokesperson said on Thursday that monsoon rains were likely to continue until Aug 27 and they were expected in the upper regions of all major rivers. He said the Sutlej River continued to experience flood and the water level was likely to rise due to more rains.

He said the water level was increasing at the Rasul Barrage in the Jhelum River, which could create a flood situation in Mandi Bahauddin, Gujrat, Khanewal, Multan and Muzaffargarh districts.

He said the Tarbela Dam at the Indus River was also witnessing a low-level flood, as the Mangala and Tarbela dams were full while other rivers in Punjab were witnessing a normal flow.

PDMA’s director general, Imran Qureshi, said the situation remained critical due to a flooding situation in the Sutlej River since Aug 17 and the administration was put on high alert. He said steps were being taken to inform the public about any emergency.

He said that as many as 583 villages were affected due to a high flood in Sutlej and 966 rescue officials were performing duties in the affected areas.

Besides, 92 medical camps were set up in flood-affected districts where more than 3,528 individuals were provided medical treatment. Some 118 relief camps were also established in the affected regions and 56,560 individuals stranded in floodwaters were rescued through urgent measures.

Mr Qureshi said the floodwaters have affected over 100,000 acres.

CM chairs cabinet meeting

Meanwhile, Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi instructed ministers to remain in the field for the next seven days to oversee rescue and relief operations in the flood-affected regions.

Mr Naqvi, who chaired the 24th cabinet meeting on Thursday, also sought reports from caretaker ministers on rescue and relief activities during the meeting and expressed satisfaction with the rescue and relief efforts in the affected areas.

Earlier, the PDMA and Pakistan Meteorological Department had warned that the water level in the Sutlej River might rise further over the next 24 hours after rains in the upper catchment areas.

On Aug 15, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) issued a warning of medium to high flood in the Ravi River following the release of 171,797 cusecs of water from India on Aug 14.

The NDMA had alerted all the departments concerned to ensure precautionary measures to avoid any loss of lives and damage to private and public property.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2023