LAHORE:
Disaster Management officials announced the end of the Monzón season, but flood threats persisted in southern Punjab on Tuesday when the province prepared to collect the pieces after a calamitous flood that affected more than four million people, their homes and their crops.
Although the waters of the floods have relieved the pressure in the upper regions of Punjab, they continue to increase through the southern districts and drain towards the Indo River, which leads to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to issue fresh alerts for Sindh and Baluchistan.
The disaster has so far charged 66 lives in Punjab and damaged approximately 1.95 million acres of farmland. Among the victims were 13 people, including five children, who died when floods devastated Jalpur Pirwala on Tuesday.
“The tenth and last spell of the Monzón has concluded, without a new important precipitation that was expected in the Alto Punjab,” said the head of the provincial disaster management (PDMA) Irfan Ali Kathia. “The flows go back in the north, but the South continues to support the worst part while the waters increase towards Sindh.”
In an improvement signal, the authorities indicated that the residents of the camps in the districts of Gujrat and Nanowal had begun to return to their homes. The authorities said they expected those villages to move towards normal in four to five days.
Meanwhile, the authorities in fine and muzaffargarh were weighing desperate measures, including the violation of Sherhah’s flood protection embankment along the Chenab River if the levels increase more than 393.5 feet. A rape could flood between 20 and 30 villages, but officials argue that it may be the only way to save.
Pakistan Railways has warned that if Shershah’s embankment breaks, services will be suspended in the fine -rawalpindi line, including the Mehr Express and Thal Express, and even the main line of fine -karachi could be threatened.
Further south, embankments in Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan remain under tension but still remain, authorities said. However, rapes near the smallest villages such as Panoohar have displaced hundreds.
In Uch Sharif, dozens of settlements have been put underwater. The torrential rains also submerged tent camps in fine, while the rescue ships overturned in Liaquatpur and Muzaffarhh, killing four. More than 100 villages in Jalpur Pirwala remain flooded.
The Punjab Help Commissioner Nabeel Javed said that 4.2 million people in 4,300 villages were affected, with more than 2.16 million evacuees. The province has established 417 aid camps, 498 medical camps and 431 veterinary centers, moving 1.57 million animals to security.
At the national level, the NDMA said that almost 928 people have died and more than 1,000 injured since the end of June. More than 8,100 houses have been destroyed or damaged, with the heaviest losses reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. Livestock losses exceed 6,000.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed a high -level committee to evaluate agricultural and food security losses. The panel will estimate the damage to commercial crops such as cotton, rice, sugar cane and corn, while examining the impact on livestock, fodder and exports.
Kathia emphasized that the government would announce a large help package for affected families. “This is one of the biggest flood events in the history of Punjab,” he said. “But with coordinated efforts, we have saved millions of lives and we will continue to support recovery in the coming weeks.”
While Punjab flood waters spilled south, Sindh and Baluchistan prepared for the impact. In the midst of storm warnings, rain and possible hills torrents of the Kirthar mountain range, the NDMA issued flood alerts for Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin and several other districts.
With Sukkur Barge already receiving 375,000 CUSECs, the authorities have opened all the doors to relieve the pressure. The authorities say that the next 48 hours are critical. If river peaks coincide with fresh rains, middle level floods could become a broader catastrophe.
