Islamabad/Peshawar:
The heavy rains of the Monzón pushed rivers levels through Punjab to hazardous, flooding villages, destroying crops and cutting land access in several districts such as the National Authority for Disaster Management (NDMA) issued an emergency alert on Sunday after forecasts of a new monsoon spell this week.
NDMA’s warning occurred when Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) staggered one of the most catastrophic injuries in the recent memory that killed more than 300 people. Given the generalized destruction in the province, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ran to his ministers to supervise help efforts in the affected districts.
Pakistan is dealing with one of the most mortal monzón seasons in recent memory, since the Indians, sudden floods and landslides have charged at least 657 lives and have left almost 1,000 injured since the end of June, according to the NDMA.
The National Emergency Operations Center of the NDMA (NEOC) issued an emergency alert that predicts a great very strong rain in Punjab, KP, Baluchistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and parts of Sindh.
In an informative media session, the president of the NDMA, the LT Gen, Inam Haider, warned that two or three more monzón spells are expected before mid-September, with rain intensity projected at levels of 50-60% above average. Attributed the situation of worsening to climate change.
KP is the worst affected. A generalized devastation in Buner, Bajaur, Swat and Shangla has been informed. Until Sunday, the death toll from the cloud clouds on Friday, rays and sudden floods increased to 323, including 209 in the Buner district, the epicenter of the disaster.
According to the KP PDMA, the deceased includes 273 men, 29 women and 21 children, while the injured comprise 123 men, 23 women and 10 children. The PDMA said that so far a total of 336 houses were damaged, with 230 partially destroyed and 106 completely demolished.
Since June 26, said the NDMA, rain -related incidents have led the lives of 657 people, 171 children and 94 women, while another 929 have been injured. KP, he added, suffered the worst, with 390 deaths: 288 men, 59 children and 43 women.
In Punjab, 164 lives have been lost, and children represent most deaths. Sindh reported 28 deaths, Baluchistan 20 deaths, Gilgit-Baltistan 32, Ajk 15, and the territory of the capital of Islamabad 8, according to the NDMA.
The devastation is generalized. “The connectivity with several settlements in Gilgit-Baltistan and KP has been cut due to sudden floods and landslides. Search operations for missing people are ongoing and more relief packages will be sent tomorrow,” said the president of the NDMA, Haider.
The Neoc said the rainy system was active on the Pakistan region and could cause heavy to very strong rain during the next 24 hours. Heavy to very strong rain with electric storms for Islamabad is forecast, with intermittent breaks, he added.
It is expected that the districts of the north and superior of KP, including Swat, Buner, Shangla, Dir, Mansehra, Battagram, Abbottabad and Malakand, receive strong rains in the next 24 hours, with possible sudden floods and landslides in mountainous areas, according to the Neoc.
Generalized rain is expected in the districts of Potohar and the northeast of Rawalpindi, Atock, Jhelum, Chakwal, Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Nanowal, Hafizabad and Mandi Bahauddin. The central and southern districts – Fine, Rajanpur, Layyah, Bhakkar and Sahiwal, would see scattered storms.
Dispersed electric storms for Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan and Swabi are forecast. The southern districts, including Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Karak and Kohat could experience scattered rain and electric storms, with occasional heavy falls.
Similarly, AJK’s districts, including Muzampharabad, Rawalakot, Bagh, Haveli, Kotli, Mirpur and Bhimber, and Gilgit, Skardu, Hunza, Ghizer, Diamer, Astore, Ghanche and Shigig mountain.
The coastal districts of Sindh – Karachi, Thatta, Sujawal, Badin and Tharparkar – can see intermittent showers or storms. Central and Superior Sindh – Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Dadu, Khairpur, Sukkur, Ghotki, Larkana, Shikarpur, Jacobabad and Kashmore) is likely to receive moderate to strong rains.
In Baluchistan, districts such as Lasbela, Khuzdar, Awaran, Kalat, Gwadar, Tobat and Panjgur are expected to receive scattered rainfall, while the northern and central districts, including Quetta, Zhob, Zhob, Lorealai, Barkhan, Musa Khel, Bugti and Kohlu can see Lights.
The NDMA urged citizens to avoid non -essential trips and remain alert to changing climatic conditions. “People are advised to estimate vehicles in safe areas, far from trees, signs and weak structures, and to avoid movement near rivers, streams and areas prone to landslides,” said the alert.
“It is advisable to cross submerged roads, bridges or fast flow water channels. Institutions must take precautionary measures, ensure that machinery and pumps are ready for drainage in low areas and quickly respond to any emerging threat.”
Help efforts
Meanwhile, help efforts in the affected areas of KP continued. On the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, additional relief goods were being sent to the areas affected by floods. In their directives, federal ministers will participate in aid operations.
The Prime Minister’s office declared in a brochure that the Minister of Cashmir and GB Affairs, Amir Muqam, would supervise the distribution of aid goods in the districts of Shangla and Buner with the assistance of the Minister of Power.
The Minister of Religious Affairs, Sardar Yousaf, will supervise the operations in Mansehra, while the special assistant of the Prime Minister, Mubarak Zeb, will supervise the distribution of aid in Bajaur, according to the brochure.
The Prime Minister personally supervises NDMA’s help operations in all districts affected by KP floods. “We are with the victims of the flood in this hour of difficulty,” said the brochure citing prime minister.
The KP PDMA said Sunday that he sent 89 trucks loaded with aid items, including more than 2,800 tents, 3,800 blankets, 1,750 solar lamps and RS8 billion in financial assistance to the affected areas.
KP’s Prime Minister Ali Amin Gandapur visited Swat. He assured the victims of the flood that the government would rebuild their houses destroyed and would relocate to the families of the river to recently developed settlements.
Meanwhile, Punjab’s PDMA said the province was experiencing the seventh spell of the monsoon rains, which would continue until August 23. The officials warned that Cloudbursts remained a possibility in Rawalpindi, Murree, Galliyat, Jhelum, Chakwal and Attock.
In the last 24 hours, heavy rains were recorded in various parts of Punjab. Islamabad received up to 76 millimeters in Golra and 75 millimeters in Saidpur, while Rawalpindi registered 53 millimeters in Chaklala. Jhelum, Sialkot, Mangla and Mandi Bahauddin also reported significant rains.
Due to the rain, the Sutlej River has increased abruptly in the Kasur district, immersing dozens of villages and vast extensions of farmland. PDMA officials reported that water discharge in the heads of Ganda Singh Wala reached 75,000 Cusecs.
The increase destroyed permanent crops, damaged hundreds of agricultural land and displaced dozens of families. The authorities warned that the additional releases of water from the Harike heads of India could intensify the floods, endangering the downstream communities.
In Bahawalnagar, violations in protective embankments have allowed the waters of the floods to spread to the villages, which leads to the administration of the district to impose section 144 to restrict the civil movement throughout the ribers.
In Zafarwal Tehsil de Narkowal, the Dek Nullah swells with more than 22,000 water cusecs, flooding nearby towns and harmful houses. The rescue teams deployed ships to move the residents stranded, while the flood relief camps provided the necessary assistance, authorities said.
The Federal Flood Commission (FFC) reported that the Indo River was on medium floods in Kalabagh, Chashma and Taunsa, while the Tarbela dam has a 98%capacity. Mangla DAM is 1,211 feet, just 30 feet below its maximum storage level.
Punjab Prime Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, ordered all administrations and rescue agencies to remain on a maximum alert, especially in the valleys of Murree, Rawalpindi, Jhelum and Koh-E-Sulaiman. A ban on tourist trips to Murree has been imposed in the midst of the fears of clouds and landslides.
