PHOTO: MUHAMMAD Alvi.Imtiaz/TRIBUNE.BIZ
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✍ @Mujahid-Khan
ISLAMABAD / MULTAN:
While central and southern Punjab is braving and Sindh is
bracing for devastating floods triggered by incessant downpours,
officials warned that another weather system could bring more widespread
rains in the country.
The deluge damaged infrastructure, swamped villages and destroyed
crops, especially in central Punjab, uprooting thousands of people from
their homes. The floods headed for southern Punjab and northern Sindh,
leaving a trail of destruction in Punjab.
“The recent rains affected 305,642 people, killed at least 106 people
and wounded 108,” National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)
spokesperson Brigadier Kamran Zia told
The Express Tribune on Sunday.
He added that the current weather system has already weakened and the
authority was worried about a new system which could bring more
widespread rains, especially in northern and central Pakistan. A high
intensity flood was likely to pass through Guddu Barrage on August 20-21
where mass evacuations have already been ordered.
“Now, we are not worried about the current system which has already
weakened. It’s the new monsoon system that worries us,” said Brig Zia.
“The new system will start on August 25.”
The NDMA spokesperson wouldn’t say how long the new weather system
would last. However, he said that it would bring medium to heavy rains
for 10 or more days.
The new system would target the northern parts of the country, but
considering the recent erratic weather patterns, some areas of central
districts, including Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Murad Jamali and adjacent
areas might also be affected, Brig Zia said. “The new system would
particularly affect Azad Jammu and Kashmir as it is the catchment area
besides targeting the main districts of Lahore, Gujranwala and other
parts of central Punjab.”
About the ongoing floods, the NDMA spokesperson said water was
receding in Narowal district, while the breaches that swamped Chiniot
district had been plugged. According to the NDMA statistics, 2,400
houses have been destroyed and 2,648 damaged by the floods. Similarly,
592 villages have been affected where 44 relief camps have been
established.
Meanwhile, high floods reached upper parts of south Punjab
on Sunday. Though precautionary evacuations have been ordered, the
authorities said the situation was under control. The district
administration has shifted around 14,000 people from villages on the
bank of the River Chenab to higher ground with the help of Rescue 1122.
“At least 20 relief camps have also been set up on the confluence of
Multan-Muzaffargarh border,” Gulzar Shah, the district coordination
officer of Multan, told
The Express Tribune. “However, some
villagers are reluctant to leave their homes. We’re trying to convince
them to shift to the relief camps,” he added.
The district administration in Vehari declared a state of emergency
and evacuated 50 villages as a high flood, carrying 350,000 cusecs of
water, was expected in the rivers Sutluj and Chenab near Kabeerwaala and
Mian Channu.
In Rahim Yar Khan district, the police shifted more than 4,501 people
and their 2,943 cattle to the 17 relief camps set up for flood affected
people in anticipation. In Rajanpur, the ground channels of six union
councils remained terminated and the rehabilitation of 30,000 affected
people could not be started.