LAYYAH, Aug 9 Another exceptionally high flood of 750,300 cusecs in the Indus River is likely to hit 1,200 square kilometres of the district on Tuesday. The flood will also test 72 kilometres long five dykes which have been receiving heavy rains in the last seven days.

Earlier, fierce flooding in the Indus from July 27 to Aug 9, displaced 400,000 people, 600,000 animals, inundated 300,000 acres, washed away standing crops on 250,000 acres and demolished 20,000 homes. But the five dykes had survived the onslaught and protected Layyah, Jamman Shah and other cities.

The flood information centre of Chashma Barrage stated on Monday that the discharge of water was 752,000 cusecs on Saturday night, and this flood would pass through Layyah on Tuesday morning. The water may rise to more than 800,000 cusecs in the flood affected areas of the district.

In the last two days, water level dropped from 700,0000 cusecs to 500,000 cusecs and a few hundred residents returned to their homes along the riverside. Dawn saw Highway and Engineering Department officials repairing roads with the help of two bulldozers and 10 tractors on Warah Seharan Road in Karor.

On Saturday, Provincial Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Ahmed Ali Aulakh had directed the district coordination officer to expedite the rehabilitation of roads.

In the first flood wave, all protection dykes were dry and withstood the tremendous pressure of 1.3 million cusecs flood for three days and now the continuous rains have swamped the structures making them weaker.

The new flood wave, if not protected by these dykes, may wreck havoc in urban localities of Karor, Layyah, Jaman Shah, Kot Sultan and Paharpur. The dykes are five-kilometre Layyah-Kukarwala bund, 11-mile F-north flood bund, 13-mile Shahwala flood bund, 13-miles LMD Second Jaman Shah bund and 4.5-mile Dholwala Grine bund.

Irrigation Executive Engineer Riaz Almani told Dawn that 500 officials of the Irrigation Department had been deployed at dykes for their monitoring.

The Punjab government has released Rs10 million for the first phase of a rescue-and-relief operation for 100 villages.

RELIEF The district administration has established 23 relief camps catering around 10,000 flood victims. From Sunday, the administration started distributing dry food stuff and 2,000 flour bags of 20 kilogramme each to victims.

A food stuff package contains two kilo pulse, one kilo each of rice, ghee and sugar and one packet each of tea and dry milk which will cater to six of a family, says food distribution in charge Shahid Abbas.

The Heath Department said in a handout that the department had treated 25,000 people in their camps.

Arshad Khan Lodhi, Punjab senior vice president of the PML-Q, distributed 600 bags of food stuff in Karor and 900 food bags in Layyah.

The Awami Development Organisation, SAP Pakistan, the PWS and Doaba Foundation are providing meals to victims at their relief camps earmarked by the District administration.

District Livestock Officer AD Khosa said his department had vaccinated 173,300 animals and de-wormed 32,308 animals, supplied 1,036 bags of anmol wanda, 1,036 bags of wheat husk to farmers.

Local philanthropists are also providing cooked food from Fatehpur, Chowk Azam, Dhori Adda and Rafiqabad and 20,000 degs are being supplied to the flood affected people every day.