River Sutlej flood: Crops over 3,000 acre destroyed in Vehari

Villagers in Vehari have been told to prepare for evacuation.

VEHARI:

Standing crop on hundreds of acres of land in Vehari has been inundated due to a medium flood in River Sutlej. Villagers have been asked to evacuate the flood-affected areas. According to the Irrigation Department data, another flood torrent in expected to pass through the region in the next 24 hours.

The inflow of water in the river at Head Islam, according to latest figures of the Irrigation Department, is 34,373 cusecs. The outflow is recorded at 31,523 cusecs.

Revenue officials said a sudden rise in the volume of water in the river by 7,000 cusecs had damaged crops spread on around 3,000 acres of land in the last 24 hours. However, they said, flood water was away from settled areas so no casualties had so far been reported. “The water has inundated most of the fields in the region. The administration is on alert. Our priority is to ensure round the clock monitoring so villagers could be informed in advance in case they the flood poses a threat to residential areas,” a revenue official said. He said the next flood torrent, expected to pass through the region in 24 hours, could flood villages and require evacuations. “Villagers have been informed about the threat and that they should prepare to leave the areas with their cattle in case of an emergency,” he said.

Additional Collector Tariq Bashir said he was personally monitoring the relief and rescue work. He assured that the administration had made all possible arrangements to combat any emergency. He said Health, Revenue, Livestock Departments and Rescue1122 were jointly working in this regard.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2011.