Lahore, Sep 6 (PTI) Floods in Pakistan’s Punjab province have killed 50 people and impacted around four million others since August 23, officials said on Saturday.
The province with a population of 130 million people has been witnessing torrential rainfall since mid-August, resulting in almost all rivers and tributaries flowing over danger levels.
“Around four million people in Punjab have been affected/displaced by the floods so far. Around 1.84 million people trapped in floodwaters have been relocated to safety, while 1.34 million animals have been relocated,” Punjab’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Director General Irfan Ali Kathia told a press conference here.
“The floods have claimed 50 lives in the affected areas of Punjab and financial assistance of PKR 1 million each will be provided to the families of the deceased,” Kathia said. He said 3,900 villages have been submerged in floodwater from three rivers — Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej — and crops on thousands of acres have also washed away. Kathia said Sialkot and Gujrat are the worst-hit districts by floods, and added that more rainfall is forecast across various divisions of Punjab.
“The flood situation remains critical, with water levels at dangerous highs at Ganda Singh Wala, Head Sulaimanki, Head Qadirabad, Khanki, and Muhammadwala,” he said.
He, however, said that no new alert has been issued for any river in the last 18 to 22 hours, and water levels in the Sutlej have been receding over the past 24 hours. “At Ganda Singh Wala, the water level is also decreasing,” he said.
“Currently, 71,000 cusecs are flowing at Jassar, 110,000 cusecs at Ravi Siphon, 107,000 cusecs at Shahdara, and 170,000 cusecs at Sadhnai,” he said, adding that water levels at Multan and Sher Shah have also dropped.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has said a low-pressure system is currently located over Madhya Pradesh and is likely to move west-northwest, and may reach Rajasthan and adjoining parts of Sindh on Saturday. Under the influence of this weather system, Punjab, Sindh and Islamabad may face heavy to very heavy rains, it said. Train operations in Pakistan are also affected as five rail sections in the Punjab province have been suspended due to the damage caused to the railway tracks by floods. Because of floods and heavy rains, power distribution companies (Discos), including the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) and Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) also faced a massive loss of electricity supply infrastructure.
According to NDMA data, between June 26 when the monsoon rains started till August 31, there were 209 deaths in Punjab province even as millions of people have been displaced due to devastating floods with over 2,000 villages inundated. PTI MZ GRS GRS
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